tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78570337403123418892012-01-11T21:42:11.364+01:00Where musings (every so often) are more than word playAva Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.comBlogger171100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-47047910075026302992012-01-11T21:40:00.000+01:002012-01-11T21:42:09.379+01:00Collection of fake game reviews/interviews and other interesting stuff:<br /><br /><br />http://thelastmetaphor.com/?p=1923<br />http://nightmaremode.net/2011/08/_____-on-the-planet-x-a-year-of-interviews-with-jeffrey-auburn-2-8751/<br />http://nightmaremode.net/2011/10/raymond-carver-vs-the-mortality-of-man-%E2%80%93-a-year-of-interviews-with-jeffrey-auburn-3-12325/<br /><br />http://nightmaremode.net/2011/09/deliverance-3ds-review-10226/<br />http://nightmaremode.net/2011/09/imaginary-games-book-review-10714/<br />http://thelastmetaphor.com/?p=190<br />http://thelastmetaphor.com/?p=1188<br /><br /><br />http://nightmaremode.net/2011/11/gaming-in-the-dark-13092/<br />http://thelastmetaphor.com/?p=1637<br />http://thelastmetaphor.com/?p=401<br /><br />Lycka till med utställningen!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-4704791007502630299?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-68150716146060603952012-01-02T13:51:00.007+01:002012-01-02T14:08:30.198+01:00This years GOTY list and reminiscing. Not a super thrilling year for me gamewise or otherwise; I left the blogosphere completely half-way through and have since then barely gotten any news on what has been going on. I've been reading Extra Lives, article series of growing up, watching Buffy, playing Bastion, studying tarot/heroes journey, and realizing why Majoras Mask haunts me so (it's about growing up, yes). <br /><br />As always, there are hundreds of games on steam which look like they just might be good if I give them a change, but without that push from people whose opinion I trust, most of the games just seem meh and I have no energy giving them a try. Many of the games I was looking forward to have actually not been released, so next year looks good at least. Hopefully Weir, Cavanagh (even if I haven't played At a Distance yet) and increpare will get their shit together (top three from last years list) for next year and do something mindblowing. Asides from games such as Mass Effect 3 and Max Payne 3, there will be those late-coming games which I for some reason thought would be released 2011: Dear Esther, Duality ZF, Silent Hill Downpour, SpyParty, Cavanaghs game, X-com, Hazard: Journey of Life, Metal Gear Solid Rising, Unfinished Swan, Fez, The Witness, The Dream Machine, Tuning. Add some newcomers such as Kentucky Route Zero, Quantum Conundrum, Twinkling Stars, The Journey Down, Fez, Miegakure, Elysian Tale, Paradox Shift, and, to not forget, all those new wonderful games of which I yet do not know (and probably will not find out anything about since I don't read about games anymore). <br /><br />Perhaps 2012 is the year when some of those games which are never to be completed actually become completed? I'm thinking Forge (sequel to Loom), the sequel to A Second Face, Team Effigys Out of Time, Planescape Trilogy, cactus sequel to mondo agency... I mean the restoration project for Kotor 2 finally got to an end in 2011, and so did Duke Nukem 4ever! So I will start the new year by playing Kotor2, and then going through the mass effect trilogy in february and mars. Overall I am now looking back at what has been, and revisiting my past through pop culture. I am hoping this is not a way of regressing, but transgressing, growing.<br /><br />For the sake of disclosure and completion, this is what I've missed out on this year: Achron, Esoterica America, new Batman game, Uncharted 3, To the Moon, Gunstringer, Fate of the World, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and, silly me, almost forgot: the new zelda game. I have also wanted to play some kind of co-op game but haven't really the right friends for it. Left For Dead 2, or something in that vein. Not Gears of War though. Oh, Glitchhiker for example, in a more formal setting, would be awesome. Also I would like more vertically oriented shmups with much procedural content and many extends, as always, but still return to Kenta Chos games instead because it seems damned hard to satisfy me in that specific area. Somehow, I must have super acquired taste when it comes to them because the few I've played, well, not my cup of tea. And since Kenta Cho won't answer my emails on updating Rootage, noiz2a, and parsec47 for newer computers/higher resolutions/widescreens, I'm out of luck. Linley Henzels shmups work so so on windows 7 too, with colors getting messed up, and from hir I got an answer, but no update. Maybe the new game Angry moth will be good?<br /><br />Well, here's the list. I don't think any of the old stuff has changed really, but I might as well post it. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />2011<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Honorable Mention</span><br />A Mother in Festerwood (Austin Breed) <br />American Dream (Stephen Lavelle, Terry Cavanagh, Jasper Byrne and Tom Morgan-Jones)<br />Balloon-Diaspora/Ruins (Jake Elliott)<br />Cat and the Coup (Peter Brinson/Kurosh ValaNejad) <br />Fotonica<br />Glitchhiker (vlambeer)<br />Hot Throttle (Cacusquid)<br />NightSky (Nicalis/Nifflas)<br />No Longer Subject to Judicial Review (NiallM)<br />Raccord Sniper (Nicolai Troshinsky)<br />Rebuild (Sarah Northway)<br />Soul Brother (Jasper Byrne)<br />Spent (McKinney)<br />Technobabylon Part III (James Dearden)<br />Wunderputt (dampgnat)<br />You Shall Know The Truth/The Book of Living Magic (Jonas Kyratzes)<br /><br />10 The End of Us (Chelsea Howe & Michael Molinari)<br /><br />9 Negative Spacecraft (Chris Cornell)<br /><br />8 A History of Democratic Process in Eire/English Country Tune/Salome/Pirouette (Stephen Lavelle/Increpare)<br /><br />7 Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony (Final Form)<br /><br />6 Rebirth (Daniel-D. "Guert" Guertin) <br /><br />5 Trauma (Krystian Majewski)<br /><br />4 The Stanley Parable (Cakebread)<br /><br />3 Bla Bla (Vincent Morisset)<br /><br />2 Portal 2<br /><br />1 Bastion<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-1984<br /><br />10 Solar Fox (Arkad) <br /><br />9 Excite Bike <br /><br />8 Pac Man <br /><br />7 Galaxian <br /><br />6 Millipede/Centipede <br /><br />5 Boulder Dash <br /><br />4 Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy <br /><br />3 Pooyan <br /><br />2 Robotron 2084 <br /><br />1 Jetpac<br /><br /><br />1985<br /><br />Boulder Dash 2: Rockford's Revenge<br /><br />10 Balance of Power <br /><br />9 Bomberman<br /><br />8 A Mind Forever Voyaging<br /><br />7 Binary Land<br /><br />6 Gradius<br /><br />5 Field Combat <br /><br />4 Ice Climbers<br /><br />3 Space Harrier <br /><br />2 Battle City <br /><br />1 Super Mario Bros <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />1986<br /><br />10 Alex Kidd in Miracle World <br /><br />9 Solomon’s Key <br /><br />8 Zanac <br /><br />7 Adventure Island <br /><br />6 Paper Boy <br /><br />5 Balloon Fight <br /><br />4 Bubble Bobble<br /><br />3 Metroid <br /><br />2 Legend of Zelda <br /><br />1 Super Mario Bros 2 <br /><br /><br />1987<br /><br />10 R-Type<br /><br />9 Zelda 2: Adventure of Link<br /><br />8. Rainbow Islands <br /><br />7 Bureaucracy <br /><br />6 Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It <br /><br />5 Maniac Mansion<br /><br />4 Castlevania<br /><br />3 Mega Man <br /><br />2 Tetris: The Soviet Challenge <br /><br />1 Dungeon Master <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />1988<br /><br />10 Snatcher<br /><br />9 Space Harrier 2 <br /><br />8 Ghouls n’ Ghosts <br /><br />7 Arkanoid <br /><br />6 Bubble Bobble <br /><br />5 Spy vs Spy <br /><br />4 Ninja Gaiden <br /><br />3 Mega Man 2 <br /><br />2 Contra <br /><br />1 Super Mario Bros 3 <br /><br /><br />1989<br /><br />10 Dig Dug 2 <br /><br />9 Twin Bee 3<br /><br />8 Blazing Lazers<br /><br />7 Cobra Triangle<br /><br />6 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade <br /><br />5 R-Type 2<br /><br />4 Adventures of Lolo <br /><br />3 Prince of Persia <br /><br />2 Dungeon Master: Chaos Strikes Back <br /><br />1 Final Fight <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />1990<br /><br />ActRaiser<br />Adventures of Lolo<br />Ducktales<br />Eye of the Beholder<br />Smash TV<br /><br />10 Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers <br /><br />9 Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse <br /><br />8 Super Contra<br /><br />7 Ninja Gaiden 2<br /><br />6 F-Zero <br /><br />5 Mega Man 3<br /><br />4 Loom <br /><br />3 Lemmings <br /><br />2 The Secret of Monkey Island<br /><br />1 Super Mario World <br /><br /><br />1991<br /><br />10 Mega Man 4 <br /><br />9 Another World<br /><br />8 Sonic the Hedgehog <br /><br />7 Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts <br /><br />6 Ninja Gaiden 3: The Dark Ship of Doom <br /><br />5 Monkey Island 2: Lechuck’s Revenge <br /><br />4 Area 88/UN Squadron <br /><br />3 Street Fighter 2: World Warrior <br /><br />2 Super Castlevania IV<br /> <br />1 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />1992<br /><br />Mega Man 5<br />The Legend of Zelda: Third Quest<br /><br />10 Pocky and Rocky <br /><br />9 Street Fighter 2 Turbo<br /> <br />8 Puyo Puyo <br /><br />7 Jezzball/Maxwell's Maniac (Marjacq Micro/Dima Pavlovsky) <br /><br />6 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 <br /><br />5 Super Double Dragon <br /><br />4 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time <br /><br />3 The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse <br /><br />2 Super Probotector: Alien Rebels/Contra 3: Alien Wars <br /><br />1 Super Mario Kart <br /><br /><br />1993<br /><br />Jurassic Park<br />Shadowrun<br />World Heroes<br /><br />10 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 <br /><br />9 Mega Man X <br /> <br />8 E.V.O: Search for Eden <br /><br />7 Bart Simpson's Nightmare <br /><br />6 Doom <br /><br />5 Gunstar Heroes <br /><br />4 Sam & Max Hit The Road<br /><br />3 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening<br /><br />2 Day of the Tentacle <br /><br />1 Castlevania: Rondo of Blood <br /><br /><br />1994<br /><br />Donkey Kong Country<br />Jazz Jackrabbit<br />Mega Man X2<br />Micro Machines<br /><br />10 Cyberdogs <br /><br />9 Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi <br /><br />8 Beneath a Steel Sky<br /><br />7 The Great Circus Mystery: Starring Mickey and Minnie <br /><br />6 Puzzle Bobble <br /><br />5 Uni Rally/Uniracers <br /><br />4 Lode Runner: The Legend Returns <br /><br />3 Contra: Hard Corps <br /><br />2 X-Com: UFO Defense/UFO: Enemy Unknown <br /><br />1 Super Metroid <br /><br /><br />1995<br /><br />19XX: The War Against Destiny<br />Discworld<br />The Dark Eye<br />Warcraft 2<br />Zoop<br /><br />10 Micro Machines 2: Special <br /><br />9 Diddy's Kong Quest/Donkey Kong Country 2<br /><br />8 Full Throttle <br /><br />7 Mega Man 7/Mega Man X3 <br /><br />6 Heroes of Might & Magic <br /><br />5 Gunbird<br /><br />4 Alien Soldier <br /><br />3 Worms <br /><br />2 Strikers 1945 <br /><br />1 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island <br /><br /><br />1996<br /><br />C-Dogs (Cyberdogs 2)<br />Dixie Kong's Double Trouble/Donkey Kong Country 3<br />Donpachi<br />Death Rally<br />Quake<br />Resident Evil<br />Sengoku Ace Episode II/Sengoku Blaede/Tengai<br /><br />10 Samurai Shodown 4: Yamakuzas Revenge<br /><br />9 Metal Slug <br /><br />8 Leisure Suit Larry: Love For Sail <br /><br />7 Three Dirty Dwarves <br /><br />6 Mega Man 8<br /><br />5 Nights: Into Dreams<br /><br />4 Mario Kart 64 <br /><br />3 Diablo <br /><br />2 Soul Blade <br /><br />1 Super Mario 64 <br /><br />1997<br /><br />Diddy Kong Racing<br />Duckman<br />Mega Man X<br />Samurai Showdown 4: Yamakuzas Revenge<br /><br />10 Dungeon Keeper<br /><br />9 Blade Runner <br /><br />8 Worms 2 <br /><br />7 Fallout <br /><br />6 Hellfire <br /><br />5 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night <br /><br />3 Strikers 1945: Part 2<br /> <br />4 Starcraft <br /><br />2 Dodonpachi <br /><br />1 Final Fantasy VII <br /><br />1998<br /><br />Banjo Kazooie<br />Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now<br />F-Zero X<br />Gunbird 2<br />LSD: Dream Emulator<br />Medievil<br />Micro Machines V3<br />NHL 1999<br />Photopia (Adam Cadre)<br />Rockman & Forte<br />Sanitarium<br />Space Bomber<br /><br />10 Liero (Joosa Riekkinen) <br /><br />9 Fallout 2 <br /><br />8 Dink Smallwood <br /><br />7 Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines <br /><br />6 Hexplore <br /><br />5 Starcraft: Broodwars <br /><br />4 Grim Fandango <br /><br />3 Baldur’s Gate <br /><br />2 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time <br /><br />1 Metal Gear Solid <br /><br /><br />1999<br /><br />Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty<br />Darkstone<br />Grandia<br />Guwange<br />Heroes of Might and Magic 3<br />NHL 2000<br />Roller Coaster Tycoon<br />Soul Calibur<br />Vib Ribbon<br />Worms Armageddon <br /> <br />10 Super Smash Bros<br /><br />9 Castlevania/Legacy of Darkness <br /><br />8 Final Fantasy VIII <br /><br />7 Silent Hill <br /><br />6 Unreal Tournament <br /><br />5 Longest Journey, The<br /><br />4 System Shock 2 <br /><br />3 Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast <br /><br />2 Street Fighter 3: Third Strike <br /><br />1 Planescape Torment <br /><br /><br />2000 <br /><br />Banjo Tooie <br />DX-Ball 2<br />Dragon Blaze<br />Galatea (Emily Short)<br />NHL 2001<br /><br />10 Ricochet (Counter-Strike)<br /><br />9 Escape from Monkey Island <br /><br />8 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 <br /><br />7 Diablo 2<br /><br />6 Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes <br /><br />5 Elasto Mania (Balázs Rózsa) <br /><br />4 Shrapnel (Adam Cadre)<br /><br />3 Deux Ex <br /><br />2 The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask <br /><br />1 Baldur's Gate: Shadows of Amn <br /><br /><br />2001<br /><br />Conkers Bad Fur Day<br />Devil May Cry<br />Diablo II: Lord of Destruction<br />Final Fantasy X<br />Freak Out!/Stretch Panic<br />Frequency<br />Gothic<br />IF Arcade<br />Jak & Daxter<br />Kingdom Hearts<br />Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2<br />Mario Kart: Super Circuit<br />Maximo: Ghosts to Glory<br />Pleurghburg: The Dark Age (Chrille Blomqvist)<br />Project Zero/Fatal Frame<br />Ribbons (J.D Berry)<br />Serious Sam<br />Super Monkey Ball<br />Super Smash Bros Melee<br />Zone of the Enders<br /><br />10 Cyberd <br /><br />9 Rez <br /><br />8 Castlevania: Circle of the Moon <br /><br />7 Luigis Mansion <br /><br />6 Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil<br /><br />5 Shadow of Memories/Shadow of Destiny <br /><br />4 Max Payne <br /><br />3 Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal/Ascension <br /><br />2 Silent Hill 2 <br /><br />1 Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty <br /><br /><br />2002<br /><br />Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance<br />Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem<br />Ketsui<br />Ratchet & Clank<br />Sly Raccoon<br />Super Monkey Ball 2<br />The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (Zun/Team Shanghai Alice)<br />The Trials of Odysseus Kent (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br />10 Hobo Soccer (Magic Whisper)<br /> <br />9 Psyvariar: Revision/Psyvariar: Medium Unit<br /><br />8 Pop n’ Music 8<br /><br />7 Super Mario Sunshine<br /><br />6 Ikaruga<br /><br />5 Noiz2sa (Kenta Cho)<br /><br />4 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 <br /><br />3 Guilty Gear XX<br /><br />2 Metroid Prime <br /><br />1 Metroid Fusion <br /><br /><br />2003<br /> <br />Amplitude<br />Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow<br />Dance Dance Revolution Extreme<br />Espgaluda <br />Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time<br />Samorost (Amanita Design)<br />Soul Calibur 2<br />The Apprentice (Herculean Effort Productions)<br />The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Master Quest<br />Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4<br />Warioware Inc: Minigame Mania<br />Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner<br /><br /><br />10 Seiklus (cly5m)<br /><br />9 Perfect Cherry Blossom (Zun/Team Shanghai Alice)<br /><br />8 5 Days a Stranger (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br />7 Beyond Good And Evil <br /><br />6 The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker<br /><br />5 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic<br /><br />4 Silent Hill 3<br /><br />3 Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne<br /><br />2 dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU <br /><br />1 Parsec47/rRootage (Kenta Cho)<br /><br /><br />2004 <br /><br />A Case of the Crabs (Pinhead Games)<br />Beatmania IIDX 8th Style<br />Glass Rose<br />Imperishable Night (Zun/Team Shanghai Alice)<br />Metroid Prime 2: Echoes <br />Psyvariar 2: Ultimate Final<br />Polarium<br />Thief: Deadly Shadows<br />Tontie (Eyesmaze)<br />Tuboflex (Molleindustria)<br />Tumiki Fighters (Kenta Cho)<br /><br />10 Levers (Patrick Smith)<br /><br />9 Go go roppongi Stick!<br /><br />8 Katamari Damacy<br /><br />7 Cirque de Zale (Rebecca Clements) <br /><br />6 Mushihimesama <br /><br />5 The Apprentice II: Knights Move (Herculean Effort Productions)<br /><br />4 7 Days a Sceptic (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br />3 Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines <br /><br />2 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater <br /><br />1 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords <br /><br /><br />2005 <br /><br /><br />Anna (Vince Twelve/xiigames)<br />Beatmania IIDX 9th Style/Beatmania IIDX 10th Style<br />Blue Wish (x.x)<br />Cedric and the Revolution (Bernie)<br />Conker: Live and Reloaded<br />Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat<br />Electroplankton<br />Espgaluda 2<br />Guilty Gear XX Slash<br />Gunroar/Val & Rick (Kenta Cho)<br />Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan!<br />Pop n' Music 11<br />Soul Calibur 3<br />The Apprentice Deluxe (Herculean Effort Productions)<br />We Love Katamari<br /><br />10 Cave Story (Daisuke Amaya) <br /><br />9 Soviet Unterzögersdorf (Monochrom) <br /><br />8 Resident Evil 4 <br /><br />7 Psychonauts <br /><br />6 Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved<br /><br />5 Experimental Gaming: Tower of Goo, On a Rainy Day, The Crowd, Gravity Head, Square Off, Attack of the Killer Swarm, Riff<br /><br />4 Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence<br /><br />3 Killer 7<br /><br />2 Jade Empire <br /><br />1 Pathologic<br /><br /><br />2006<br /><br />Automaton (Mr Colossal)<br />Blue Wish Resurrection/Eden's Edge (x.x)<br />Hallway of Adventures (Mordalles)<br />La La Land 5/La La Land 4/La La Land 3/La La Land 2/La La Land (TheAnemic)<br />Museum of Broken Dreams (Jonas Kyratzes)<br />Mushihime-sama Futari<br />New Super Mario Bros<br />The Shivah/Blackwell Legacy (Dave Gilbert)<br /><br />10 Torus Trooper/Titanion (Kenta Cho)<br /><br />9 Within A Deep Forest (Nifflas)<br /> <br />8 Beatmania IIDX 11: IIDX RED<br /><br />7 Pop n' Music 12 <br /><br />6 Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock<br /><br />5 Guilty Gear XX Accent Core <br /><br />4 WarioWare: Smooth Moves <br /><br />3 Spooks (Lively Ivy/Erin Robinson)<br /><br />2 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess<br /><br />1 Trilby's Notes (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br /><br />2007 <br /> <br />Beatmania IIDX 13: DistorteD<br />Blackwell Unbound (Dave Gilbert)<br />Contra 4 <br />Feed the Head (Patrick Smith)<br />Frozzd (Jesse Venbrux)<br />Game, game, game and again game (Jason Nelson)<br />Knytt Stories/Knytt (Nifflas)<br />La Croix Pan (TheJBurger) <br />Mountain of Faith (Zun/Team Shanghai Alice)<br />Murder In A Wheel (Renzo “Eshaktaar” Thönen)<br />Nelly Cootalot (Alasdair Beckett)<br />Pacman Championship Edition<br />Rorschach (Collecting Smiles)<br />Samorost 2 (Amanita Design)<br />S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl<br />Trilby: The Art Of Theft (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br /><br />10 Garden of Coloured Lights/Excellent Bifurcation (Linley Henzell) <br /><br />9 Sam & Max Season 1: Cont’ <br /><br />8 The Witcher<br /><br />7 Mondo Agency/Mondo Medicals/Clean Asia (Cactusquid)<br /><br />6 Mass Effect<br /><br />5 Super Mario Galaxy<br /><br />4 Bioshock <br /><br />3 Passage (Jason Rohrer)<br /><br />2 Portal<br /><br />1 6 Days A Sacrifice (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br /><br />2008<br /><br />Achievement Unlocked<br />Aether (Edmund McMillen)<br />A Second Face (Jospin Le Woltaire)<br />Blue Wish Resurrection Plus (x.x)<br />Des Rêves Élastiques Avec Mille Insectes Nommés Georges (Deirdra Kia)<br />Do-Don-Pachi Dai-Fukkatsu<br />Fallout 3<br />Free Culture Game/Queer Power (Molleindustria)<br />Gateway II (Anders Gustafsson)<br />Geometry Wars Evolved 2<br />How Many…<br />Little Girl In Underland (Lively Ivy/Erin Robinson?)<br />Psychosomnium/Seizuredome (Cactusquid)<br />Virtual Silence/Seven Minutes (Tuukka Virtanen)<br /> <br />10 Rescue: The Beagles (Nenad Jalsovec)<br /><br />9 The Witcher: Enhanced Edition <br /><br />8 Self-destruct/Xoldiers (Terry Cavanagh)<br /><br />7 Nanobots (Lively Ivy/Erin Robinson)<br /><br />6 Karoshi 2.0/Execution/Pazzon/Torque/Karoshi/Karoshi Factory/Karoshi: Suicide Salaryman (Jesse Venbrux)<br /><br />5 Gravitation/Police Brutality/Between/Perfectionism (Jason Rohrer)<br /><br />4 Dear Esther (thechineseroom/Dan Pinchbeck)<br /><br />3 World Of Goo (2d Boy)<br /><br />2 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot <br /><br />1 Braid (Jonathan Blow)<br /><br /><br />2009 <br /> <br />!, Robot/Shifters Box (Ben304)<br />4 Minutes and 33 Seconds of Uniqueness (Petri/Kloonigames)<br />And Yet It Moves (Broken Rules)<br />Batman: Arkham Asylum<br />Au Sable/All Our Friends Are Dead (Amon26)<br />Backup/Bars of black and white (Gregory Weir)<br />Chaser (Connor Carpenter/shadestorm)<br />Devils Tuning Fork (DePaul Game Elites)<br />Eden’s Aegis (x.x)<br />Evidence of Everything Exploding (Jason Nelson)<br />Flow (thatgamecompany)<br />Play: Free Will - The Game (raitendo)<br />Gravity Bone (Blendo Games)<br />Harpooned (Conor O’Kane)<br />lose/lose (Zach Gage)<br />Mental Repair Inc (Renzo “Eshaktaar” Thönen)<br />Nestlings (Lewis Denby)<br />Repent (Aaron Oldenburg)<br />Silent Hill: Shattered Memories<br />Small Worlds (David Shute)<br />Spectre (Vaguely Spectacular)<br />Super Karoshi/Focus (Jesse Venbrux)<br />Takishawa Is Dead! (Andrew Brophy)<br />Today I Die (Daniel Benmergui)<br />The Company of Myself (Eli Pülonen)<br />Windosill (Patrick Smith)<br /><br /><br />10 Everyday The Same Dream/Kosmosis (Molleindustria)<br /><br />9 Time Fcuk (Edmund McMillen, William Good & Justin Karpel)<br /><br />8 The Marionette (Team Effigy/Auriond)<br /><br />7 Korsakovia (thechineseroom/Dan Pinchbeck)<br /><br />6 Radiator 1-2: Handle With Care/Radiator 1-1: Polaris (Robert Yang)<br /><br />5 Tales of Monkey Island<br /><br />4 White Butterfly (Linley Henzell) <br /><br />3 Judith/Don’t look back/Pathways/Bullfist (Terry Cavanagh) <br /><br />2 Dragon Age: Origins <br /><br />1 Opera Omnia/Home/Therapy Game/Mirror Stage/The Black Yeti/Signifier (Stephen Lavelle/increpare) <br /><br /><br />2010 <br /> <br />...But That Was [Yesterday]/Together (Michael Molinari)<br />After (Aaron Oldenburg)<br />Alan Wake<br />Beautiful Escape: Dungeoneer (Nicolau/calunio)<br />Blades of Passion (Drew Wellman)<br />Crimzon Clover (Yotsubane)<br />Conquer the Shadow World/Lackadaisium (Ultimate Walrus)<br />Covetous/Good Fortune (Austin Breed)<br />Cow Clicker (Ian Bogost)<br />Depict1 (Retro Affect)<br />Digital: A Love Story (Christine Love)<br />Dragon Age: Awakening<br />Dual Transform (Andrew Plotkin)<br />Eternally Us (Ben304)<br />Feign (Ian Snyder)<br />Frenzy Defense (Jan Willem Nijman)<br />Hero Core (Daniel Remar)<br />Hoosegow (Ben Collins-Sussman and Jack Welch)<br />Howard Glitch Game (Robert Allmand)<br />Leaky Worlds: A Playable Theory (Molleindustria)<br />Limbo (Playdead)<br />Loved (Alexander Ocias)<br />My First Quantum Translocator<br />Norrland/Gamma4 (Cactusquid)<br />Octodad (DGE2)<br />One Chance (AwkwardSilenceGames)<br />Pac-Man Championship Edition DX<br />P0nd (Peanut Gallery)<br />Puji (Alexander Jhin, Matt McKnett, and Pat Kemp)<br />Puzzlebots (Lively Ivy/Erin Robinson)<br />QWOP (Bennett Fodd)<br />Super Crate Box (Vlambeer)<br />Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)<br />Super Street Fighter IV<br />suteF (Ted Lauterbach)<br />Symon (Singapore MIT Gambi Game Lab)<br />Technobabylon - Part II/Technobabylon - Part 1 (James Dearden) <br />Tedium (EddieC))<br />The Arm/Refus Q. Jibberjabber's Day Out/Flin McGraw's Last Day (tipp)<br />Tower of Heaven (askiisoft)<br />Which (Mike Inel) <br /><br />10 A House in California/Hummingbird Mind (Jake Elliott & friends)<br /><br />9 Life Flashes By (Deirdra Kia)<br /><br />8 Snakes of Avalon (Igor Hardy/Ascovel & Baron/Alex Van Wijst)<br /><br />7 Super Mario Galaxy 2<br /><br />6 The Dream Machine (Erik Zaring & Anders Gustafsson)<br /> <br />5 The Journey Down: Over The Edge (Theodor Waern) <br /><br />4 Mass Effect 2<br /><br />3 VVVVV/Phobiaphobiaphobia (Terry Cavanagh)<br /><br />2 Looming/The Day/Narthex (Gregory Weir)<br /><br />1 Treatise/Hush/Modernauts/Primitive Pattern/Starfeld/100 Names/Queue/The Terrible Whiteness of Appalachian Nights/The Rose Garden/Catalan/Cascode (Stephen Lavelle/increpare)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-6815071614606060395?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-68273690589627572792011-06-18T09:06:00.006+02:002011-06-18T09:17:18.900+02:00Some links with thoughts concerning the state of affairs of video games, what they are, what they're supposed to do, and how player expectation and privilege can be subverted; as dialogue, as not-fun, as anti-commercialism. <br /><br />http://www.notgames.colognegamelab.com<br /><br />http://notgames.org/blog/2010/03/19/not-a-manifesto<br /><br />http://tale-of-tales.com/tales/RAM.html<br /><br />http://www.mikejones.tv/journal/2010/2/14/most-computer-games-arent-games-at-all.html<br /><br />http://critdamage.blogspot.com/2010/07/death-of-player.html<br /><br />http://critdamage.blogspot.com/2010/08/player-privilege-why-it-is-still-just.html<br /><br />http://www.copenhagengamecollective.org/uploads/On%20Abusive%20Game%20Design%20%28web%29.pdf<br /><br />https://wiki.brown.edu/confluence/download/attachments/7143524/countergaming.galloway.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1207715401000<br /><br />"‘Fun’ is a blunt weapon used to injure and exclude. Please take your ‘fun’ elsewhere." -- Stephen Lavelle<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-6827369058962757279?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-89076668728356178732011-06-04T11:11:00.004+02:002011-06-09T13:54:13.069+02:00This is a list with the video games that has scared the most shit out of me. Most of these are not classic horror games with monsters, bur rather disconcerting experiences which through questions, atmosphere, and play make for the most interesting scares I've gotten. My favored type of horror puts the player in the dawning realization of being the evil or going someplace bad with no choice except to comply. It plays with dissolution of identity, of losing sense of self in a world where there is barely any certainty as it is. It makes you ponder your place in the universe, or tries to psyche you out with confused realities. But it also makes you fear the next door, the next hallway, and the next apparition. The games are arranged by category, and the top positions in each category are not necessarily the best games of those mentioned, but the ones that uses what the category implies in interesting ways to frighten.<br /><br />Perhaps the best horror series ever, in par with silent hill, which only gets<br />better with every game and deserves special attention: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chzo_Mythos<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Subdued angst:</span><br />http://www.increpare.com/2009/02/opera-omnia/<br />http://mikeinel.deviantart.com/art/Which-Short-Game-152503626<br />http://www.indiegames.com/2010/09/browser_game_pick_the_day_greg.html<br />http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=1228 (The Marionette)<br />http://distractionware.com/blog/?p=759 (Judith)<br />http://www.increpare.com/2010/11/activate-the-three-artefacts-and-then-leave/<br />http://www.increpare.com/2010/04/the-terrible-whiteness-of-appalachian-nights/<br />http://xiigames.com/anna/<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Existential displacement:</span><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_2:_Sons_of_Liberty<br />http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_pathologic_pc<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape:_Torment<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braid_%28video_game%29<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Knights_of_the_Old_Republic_II_The_Sith_Lords<br />http://www.increpare.com/2010/11/treatise/<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_of_Memories<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_of_Kain:_Soul_Reaver_2<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Goo<br />http://playthisthing.com/pazzon<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Twisted, uncanny, disgusting and freudian:</span><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hill_2<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hill_3<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hill_%28video_game%29<br />http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/puzzle/sutef/4195/<br />http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=5395.0 (All Our Friends Are Dead/Au Sable)<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Frame<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer7<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Psychological:</span><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitarium_%28video_game%29<br />http://www.freeworldgroup.com/games6/gameindex/gateway_2.htm<br />http://snakes.hardydev.com/<br />http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,993 (Mental Repair Inc)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Mind games</span><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal_%28video_game%29<br />http://www.kongregate.com/games/AlexanderOcias/loved<br />http://globalgamejam.org/2010/depict1<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">POEtic/Lovecraftian</span><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Eye_%28video_game%29<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Esther<br />http://www.moddb.com/mods/nestlings<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penumbra:_Overture<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Darkness:_Sanity%27s_Requiem<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Cyberpunk/identity</span><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Shock_2<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid_Fusion<br />http://www.moddb.com/mods/korsakovia<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioShock<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_Ex<br />http://www.joltcountry.com/trottingkrips/shrapnel.html<br />http://armorgames.com/play/4918/the-company-of-myself<br />http://www.kongregate.com/games/increpare/the-black-yeti?referrer=increpare<br />http://www.indiegames.com/2010/08/howard_glitch_the_youtube_indi.html<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beneath_a_Steel_Sky<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Nightmarish confusion</span><br />http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/542658 (Time Fcuk)<br />http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/511754 (Covetus)<br />http://www.gamemakergames.com/?a=archive&submit=1&searchtype=creator_name&search=TheAnemic (La La Land Series)<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSD_%28video_game%29<br />http://www.jonas-kyratzes.net/games/the-museum-of-broken-memories/<br />http://www.yoyogames.com/games/26339 (7 Minutes)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Atmospheric otherworldliness</span><br />http://www.indiegames.com/2010/07/browser_game_pick_looming_greg.html<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Majora%27s_Mask<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Castlevania_IV<br />http://www.thedreammachine.se/<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbo_%28video_game%29<br />http://rpgmaker.net/games/2068/ (Beautiful Dungeoneer)<br />http://www.devilstuningfork.com/<br />http://ludusnovus.net/2010/07/14/narthex-released/<br />http://www.asecondface.com/<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Path_%28video_game%29<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_McGee%27s_Alice<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Disconcerting/surreal</span><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Payne<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Payne_2:_The_Fall_of_Max_Payne<br />http://indygamer.blogspot.com/2007/12/mondo-agency.html<br />http://cactusquid.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=games&action=display&thread=13 (Mondo Medical)<br />http://www.gamemakergames.com/archive/the-arm<br />http://www.indiegames.com/2010/06/trailer_norrland_cactus.html<br />http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=7086.0 (Edmund)<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_rose<br />http://aaronoldenburg.net/e_repent.html<br />http://www.moddb.com/mods/radiator/news/hl2-mod-release-radiator-1-2-handle-with-care<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire:_The_Masquerade_%E2%80%93_Bloodlines<br />http://www.secrettechnology.com/explode/evidence.html (Evidence of Everything Exploding)<br />http://www.indiegames.com/2010/09/browser_game_pick_feign_ian_sn.html<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Exploration based fear</span><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_%28video_game%29<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO:_Enemy_Unknown<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Metroid<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metroid_Prime<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic_Park_%28SNES_game%29<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_Master_%28video_game%29<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania:_Circle_of_the_Moon<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Twitchers</span><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condemned:_Criminal_Origins<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resident_Evil_4<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Space_%28video_game%29<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_%28video_game%29<br /><br />I do recommend you trying some of these out, most of them are short<br />indie games which do not take more than half an hour to complete.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-8907666872835617873?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-53770862304080399112011-03-31T02:53:00.005+02:002011-03-31T03:04:29.701+02:00In an attempt to make amends with the completionist and perfectionist in me, I shall now present thee a list of my favorite video games of all time! There is not a better time than now and I shall never be "finished" with anything in my life and therefore I cannot realistically hope to have played all the games I want to and then make an informed decision or the ULTIMATE LIST. I am now on sick leave, burned out, and have not played a single new game this year, as opposed to the hundreds of different games I've tried out last year, and the thousands of blog posts I've read concerning them. I must learn to like the here and now, <span style="font-style:italic;">mindfulness</span>, mind you, and not to have lists of things to do which makes me unfocused and weary of how much I should learn and have the time to enjoy. Now is now. The 30-some page long treatise on the ontology of video games and my relationship to gaming in a world or rapidly changing actor-networks will have to wait, or better yet, just float out there in a sea of possibilities, with no rush or musts. Neither will I be able to make a list which makes sense at all times to me. Now is now. I shall make up with my past. HERE. Goes.<br /><br /><br />Honorable mentions first, numbers 10 to 1 afterwards. By year.<br /><br /><br />-1984<br /><br />10 Solar Fox (Arkad) <br /><br />9 Excite Bike <br /><br />8 Pac Man <br /><br />7 Galaxian <br /><br />6 Millipede/Centipede <br /><br />5 Boulder Dash <br /><br />4 Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy <br /><br />3 Pooyan <br /><br />2 Robotron 2084 <br /><br />1 Jetpac<br /><br /><br /><br />1985<br /><br />Boulder Dash 2: Rockford's Revenge<br /><br />10 Balance of Power <br /><br />9 Bomberman<br /><br />8 A Mind Forever Voyaging<br /><br />7 Binary Land<br /><br />6 Gradius<br /><br />5 Field Combat <br /><br />4 Ice Climbers<br /><br />3 Space Harrier <br /><br />2 Battle City <br /><br />1 Super Mario Bros <br /><br /><br /><br />1986<br /><br />10 Alex Kidd in Miracle World <br /><br />9 Solomon’s Key <br /><br />8 Zanac <br /><br />7 Adventure Island <br /><br />6 Paper Boy <br /><br />5 Balloon Fight <br /><br />4 Bubble Bobble<br /><br />3 Metroid <br /><br />2 Legend of Zelda <br /><br />1 Super Mario Bros 2 <br /><br /><br /><br />1987<br /><br />10 R-Type<br /><br />9 Zelda 2: Adventure of Link<br /><br />8. Rainbow Islands <br /><br />7 Bureaucracy <br /><br />6 Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It <br /><br />5 Maniac Mansion<br /><br />4 Castlevania<br /><br />3 Mega Man <br /><br />2 Tetris: The Soviet Challenge <br /><br />1 Dungeon Master <br /><br /><br /><br />1988<br /><br />10 Snatcher<br /><br />9 Space Harrier 2 <br /><br />8 Ghouls n’ Ghosts <br /><br />7 Arkanoid <br /><br />6 Bubble Bobble <br /><br />5 Spy vs Spy <br /><br />4 Ninja Gaiden <br /><br />3 Mega Man 2 <br /><br />2 Contra <br /><br />1 Super Mario Bros 3 <br /><br /><br /><br />1989<br /><br />10 Dig Dug 2 <br /><br />9 Twin Bee 3<br /><br />8 Blazing Lazers<br /><br />7 Cobra Triangle<br /><br />6 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade <br /><br />5 R-Type 2<br /><br />4 Adventures of Lolo <br /><br />3 Prince of Persia <br /><br />2 Dungeon Master: Chaos Strikes Back <br /><br />1 Final Fight <br /><br /><br /><br />1990<br /><br />ActRaiser<br />Adventures of Lolo<br />Eye of the Beholder<br />Smash TV<br /><br />10 Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers <br /><br />9 Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse <br /><br />8 Super Contra<br /><br />7 Ninja Gaiden 2<br /><br />6 F-Zero <br /><br />5 Mega Man 3<br /><br />4 Loom <br /><br />3 Lemmings <br /><br />2 The Secret of Monkey Island<br /><br />1 Super Mario World <br /><br /><br /><br />1991<br /><br />10 Mega Man 4 <br /><br />9 Another World<br /><br />8 Sonic the Hedgehog <br /><br />7 Super Ghouls n’ Ghosts <br /><br />6 Ninja Gaiden 3: The Dark Ship of Doom <br /><br />5 Monkey Island 2: Lechuck’s Revenge <br /><br />4 Area 88/UN Squadron <br /><br />3 Street Fighter 2: World Warrior <br /><br />2 Super Castlevania IV<br /> <br />1 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past <br /><br /><br />1992<br /><br />Mega Man 5<br />The Legend of Zelda: Third Quest<br /><br />10 Pocky and Rocky <br /><br />9 Street Fighter 2 Turbo<br /> <br />8 Puyo Puyo <br /><br />7 Jezzball/Maxwell's Maniac (Marjacq Micro/Dima Pavlovsky) <br /><br />6 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 <br /><br />5 Super Double Dragon <br /><br />4 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time <br /><br />3 The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse <br /><br />2 Super Probotector: Alien Rebels/Contra 3: Alien Wars <br /><br />1 Super Mario Kart <br /><br /><br />1993<br /><br />Jurassic Park<br />Shadowrun<br />World Heroes<br /><br />10 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 <br /><br />9 Mega Man X <br /> <br />8 E.V.O: Search for Eden <br /><br />7 Bart Simpson's Nightmare <br /><br />6 Doom <br /><br />5 Gunstar Heroes <br /><br />4 Sam & Max Hit The Road<br /><br />3 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening<br /><br />2 Day of the Tentacle <br /><br />1 Castlevania: Rondo of Blood <br /><br /><br />1994<br /><br />Donkey Kong Country<br />Jazz Jackrabbit<br />Mega Man X2<br />Micro Machines<br /><br />10 Cyberdogs <br /><br />9 Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi <br /><br />8 Beneath a Steel Sky<br /><br />7 The Great Circus Mystery: Starring Mickey and Minnie <br /><br />6 Puzzle Bobble <br /><br />5 Uni Rally/Uniracers <br /><br />4 Lode Runner: The Legend Returns <br /><br />3 Contra: Hard Corps <br /><br />2 X-Com: UFO Defense/UFO: Enemy Unknown <br /><br />1 Super Metroid <br /><br /><br />1995<br /><br />19XX: The War Against Destiny<br />Discworld<br />The Dark Eye<br />Warcraft 2<br />Zoop<br /><br />10 Micro Machines 2: Special <br /><br />9 Diddy's Kong Quest/Donkey Kong Country 2<br /><br />8 Full Throttle <br /><br />7 Mega Man 7/Mega Man X3 <br /><br />6 Heroes of Might & Magic <br /><br />5 Gunbird<br /><br />4 Alien Soldier <br /><br />3 Worms <br /><br />2 Strikers 1945 <br /><br />1 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island <br /><br /><br />1996<br /><br />C-Dogs (Cyberdogs 2)<br />Dixie Kong's Double Trouble/Donkey Kong Country 3<br />Donpachi<br />Death Rally<br />Quake<br />Sengoku Ace Episode II/Sengoku Blaede/Tengai<br /><br />10 Samurai Shodown 4: Yamakuzas Revenge<br /><br />9 Metal Slug <br /><br />8 Leisure Suit Larry: Love For Sail <br /><br />7 Three Dirty Dwarves <br /><br />6 Mega Man 8<br /><br />5 Nights: Into Dreams<br /><br />4 Mario Kart 64 <br /><br />3 Diablo <br /><br />2 Soul Blade <br /><br />1 Super Mario 64 <br /><br /><br />1997<br /><br />Diddy Kong Racing<br />Duckman<br />Mega Man X<br />Samurai Showdown 4: Yamakuzas Revenge<br /><br />10 Dungeon Keeper<br /><br />9 Blade Runner <br /><br />8 Worms 2 <br /><br />7 Fallout <br /><br />6 Hellfire <br /><br />5 Castlevania: Symphony of the Night <br /><br />3 Strikers 1945: Part 2<br /> <br />4 Starcraft <br /><br />2 Dodonpachi <br /><br />1 Final Fantasy VII <br /><br /><br />1998<br /><br />Banjo Kazooie<br />Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now<br />F-Zero X<br />Gunbird 2<br />LSD: Dream Emulator<br />Medievil<br />Micro Machines V3<br />NHL 1999<br />Photopia (Adam Cadre)<br />Rockman & Forte<br />Sanitarium<br />Space Bomber<br /><br />10 Liero (Joosa Riekkinen) <br /><br />9 Fallout 2 <br /><br />8 Dink Smallwood <br /><br />7 Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines <br /><br />6 Hexplore <br /><br />5 Starcraft: Broodwars <br /><br />4 Grim Fandango <br /><br />3 Baldur’s Gate <br /><br />2 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time <br /><br />1 Metal Gear Solid <br /><br /><br />1999<br /><br />Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty<br />Darkstone<br />Grandia<br />Guwange<br />Heroes of Might and Magic 3<br />NHL 2000<br />Roller Coaster Tycoon<br />Soul Calibur<br />Vib Ribbon<br />Worms Armageddon <br /> <br />10 Super Smash Bros<br /><br />9 Castlevania/Legacy of Darkness <br /><br />8 Final Fantasy VIII <br /><br />7 Silent Hill <br /><br />6 Unreal Tournament <br /><br />5 Longest Journey, The<br /><br />4 System Shock 2 <br /><br />3 Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast <br /><br />2 Street Fighter 3: Third Strike <br /><br />1 Planescape Torment <br /><br /><br />2000 <br /><br />Banjo Tooie <br />DX-Ball 2<br />Dragon Blaze<br />Galatea (Emily Short)<br />NHL 2001<br /><br />10 Ricochet (Counter-Strike)<br /><br />9 Escape from Monkey Island <br /><br />8 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 <br /><br />7 Diablo 2<br /><br />6 Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes <br /><br />5 Elasto Mania (Balázs Rózsa) <br /><br />4 Shrapnel (Adam Cadre)<br /><br />3 Deux Ex <br /><br />2 The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask <br /><br />1 Baldur's Gate: Shadows of Amn <br /><br /><br />2001<br /><br />Conkers Bad Fur Day<br />Devil May Cry<br />Diablo II: Lord of Destruction<br />Final Fantasy X<br />Freak Out!/Stretch Panic<br />Frequency<br />Gothic<br />Jak & Daxter<br />Kingdom Hearts<br />Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2<br />Mario Kart: Super Circuit<br />Maximo: Ghosts to Glory<br />Pleurghburg: The Dark Age (Chrille Blomqvist)<br />Project Zero/Fatal Frame<br />Serious Sam<br />Super Monkey Ball<br />Super Smash Bros Melee<br />Zone of the Enders<br /><br />10 Cyberd <br /><br />9 Rez <br /><br />8 Castlevania: Circle of the Moon <br /><br />7 Luigis Mansion <br /><br />6 Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil<br /><br />5 Shadow of Memories/Shadow of Destiny <br /><br />4 Max Payne <br /><br />3 Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal/Ascension <br /><br />2 Silent Hill 2 <br /><br />1 Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty <br /><br /><br />2002<br /><br />Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance<br />Noiz2sa (Kenta Cho)<br />Ratchet & Clank<br />Sly Raccoon<br />Super Monkey Ball 2<br />The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil (Zun/Team Shanghai Alice)<br />The Trials of Odysseus Kent (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br />10 Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem<br /><br />9 Ketsui<br /> <br />8 Hobo Soccer (Magic Whisper)<br /><br />7 Psyvariar: Revision/Psyvariar: Medium Unit<br /><br />6 Pop n’ Music 8 <br /><br />5 Super Mario Sunshine<br /><br />4 Ikaruga<br /><br />4 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 <br /><br />3 Guilty Gear XX<br /><br />2 Metroid Prime <br /><br />1 Metroid Fusion <br /><br /><br />2003<br /> <br />Amplitude<br />Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow<br />Dance Dance Revolution Extreme<br />Espgaluda <br />Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time<br />Samorost (Amanita Design)<br />Soul Calibur 2<br />The Apprentice (Herculean Effort Productions)<br />The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Master Quest<br />Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4<br />Warioware Inc: Minigame Mania<br />Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner<br /><br /><br />10 Seiklus (cly5m)<br /><br />9 Perfect Cherry Blossom (Zun/Team Shanghai Alice)<br /><br />8 5 Days a Stranger (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br />7 Beyond Good And Evil <br /><br />6 The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker<br /><br />5 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic<br /><br />4 Silent Hill 3<br /><br />3 Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne<br /><br />2 dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU <br /><br />1 Parsec47/rRootage (Kenta Cho)<br /><br /><br />2004 <br /><br />A Case of the Crabs (Pinhead Games)<br />Beatmania IIDX 8th Style<br />Glass Rose<br />Imperishable Night (Zun/Team Shanghai Alice)<br />Metroid Prime 2: Echoes <br />Psyvariar 2: Ultimate Final<br />Polarium<br />Tontie (Eyesmaze)<br />Tuboflex (Molleindustria)<br />Tumiki Fighters (Kenta Cho)<br /><br />10 Levers (Patrick Smith)<br /><br />9 Go go roppongi Stick!<br /><br />8 Katamari Damacy<br /><br />7 Cirque de Zale (Rebecca Clements) <br /><br />6 Mushihimesama <br /><br />5 The Apprentice II: Knights Move (Herculean Effort Productions)<br /><br />4 7 Days a Sceptic (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br />3 Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines <br /><br />2 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater <br /><br />1 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords <br /><br /><br />2005 <br /><br /><br />Anna (Vince Twelve/xiigames)<br />Beatmania IIDX 9th Style/Beatmania IIDX 10th Style<br />Blue Wish (x.x)<br />Cedric and the Revolution (Bernie)<br />Conker: Live and Reloaded<br />Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat<br />Electroplankton<br />Espgaluda 2<br />Guilty Gear XX Slash<br />Gunroar/Val & Rick (Kenta Cho)<br />Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan!<br />Pop n' Music 11<br />Soul Calibur 3<br />The Apprentice Deluxe (Herculean Effort Productions)<br />We Love Katamari<br /><br />10 Cave Story (Daisuke Amaya) <br /><br />9 Soviet Unterzögersdorf (Monochrom) <br /><br />8 Resident Evil 4 <br /><br />7 Psychonauts <br /><br />6 Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved<br /><br />5 Experimental Gaming: Tower of Goo, On a Rainy Day, The Crowd, Gravity Head, Square Off, Attack of the Killer Swarm, Riff<br /><br />4 Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence<br /><br />3 Killer 7<br /><br />2 Jade Empire <br /><br />1 Pathologic<br /><br /><br />2006<br /><br />Automaton (Mr Colossal)<br />Blue Wish Resurrection/Eden's Edge (x.x)<br />Hallway of Adventures (Mordalles)<br />La La Land 5/La La Land 4/La La Land 3/La La Land 2/La La Land (TheAnemic)<br />Museum of Broken Dreams (Jonas Kyratzes)<br />Mushihime-sama Futari<br />New Super Mario Bros<br />The Shivah/Blackwell Legacy (Dave Gilbert)<br /><br />10 Torus Trooper/Titanion (Kenta Cho)<br /><br />9 Within A Deep Forest (Nifflas)<br /> <br />8 Beatmania IIDX 11: IIDX RED<br /><br />7 Pop n' Music 12 <br /><br />6 Sam & Max Episode 1: Culture Shock<br /><br />5 Guilty Gear XX Accent Core <br /><br />4 WarioWare: Smooth Moves <br /><br />3 Spooks (Lively Ivy/Erin Robinson)<br /><br />2 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess<br /><br />1 Trilby's Notes (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br /><br />2007 <br /> <br />Beatmania IIDX 13: DistorteD<br />Blackwell Unbound (Dave Gilbert)<br />Feed the Head (Patrick Smith)<br />Frozzd (Jesse Venbrux)<br />Game, game, game and again game (Jason Nelson)<br />Knytt Stories/Knytt (Nifflas)<br />La Croix Pan (TheJBurger) <br />Mountain of Faith (Zun/Team Shanghai Alice)<br />Murder In A Wheel (Renzo “Eshaktaar” Thönen)<br />Nelly Cootalot (Alasdair Beckett)<br />Pacman Championship Edition<br />Rorschach (Collecting Smiles)<br />Samorost 2 (Amanita Design)<br />S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl<br />Trilby: The Art Of Theft (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br />10 Garden of Coloured Lights/Excellent Bifurcation (Linley Henzell) <br /><br />9 Sam & Max Season 1: Cont’ <br /><br />8 The Witcher<br /><br />7 Mondo Agency/Mondo Medicals/Clean Asia (Cactusquid)<br /><br />6 Mass Effect<br /><br />5 Super Mario Galaxy<br /><br />4 Bioshock <br /><br />3 Passage (Jason Rohrer)<br /><br />2 Portal<br /><br />1 6 Days A Sacrifice (Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw) <br /><br /><br />2008<br /><br />Achievement Unlocked<br />Aether (Edmund McMillen)<br />A Second Face (Jospin Le Woltaire)<br />Blue Wish Resurrection Plus (x.x)<br />Des Rêves Élastiques Avec Mille Insectes Nommés Georges (Deirdra Kia)<br />Do-Don-Pachi Dai-Fukkatsu<br />Fallout 3<br />Free Culture Game/Queer Power (Molleindustria)<br />Gateway II (Anders Gustafsson)<br />Geometry Wars Evolved 2<br />How Many…<br />Little Girl In Underland (Lively Ivy/Erin Robinson?)<br />Psychosomnium/Seizuredome (Cactusquid)<br />Virtual Silence/Seven Minutes (Tuukka Virtanen)<br /> <br />10 Rescue: The Beagles (Nenad Jalsovec)<br /><br />9 The Witcher: Enhanced Edition <br /><br />8 Self-destruct/Xoldiers (Terry Cavanagh)<br /><br />7 Nanobots (Lively Ivy/Erin Robinson)<br /><br />6 Karoshi 2.0/Execution/Pazzon/Torque/Karoshi/Karoshi Factory/Karoshi: Suicide Salaryman (Jesse Venbrux)<br /><br />5 Gravitation/Police Brutality/Between/Perfectionism (Jason Rohrer)<br /><br />4 Dear Esther (thechineseroom/Dan Pinchbeck)<br /><br />3 World Of Goo (2d Boy)<br /><br />2 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot <br /><br />1 Braid (Jonathan Blow)<br /><br /><br />2009 <br /> <br />!, Robot/Shifters Box (Ben304)<br />4 Minutes and 33 Seconds of Uniqueness (Petri/Kloonigames)<br />And Yet It Moves (Broken Rules)<br />Batman: Arkham Asylum<br />Au Sable/All Our Friends Are Dead (Amon26)<br />Backup/Bars of black and white (Gregory Weir)<br />Chaser (Connor Carpenter/shadestorm)<br />Devils Tuning Fork (DePaul Game Elites)<br />Eden’s Aegis (x.x)<br />Evidence of Everything Exploding (Jason Nelson)<br />Play: Free Will - The Game (raitendo)<br />Gravity Bone (Blendo Games)<br />Harpooned (Conor O’Kane)<br />lose/lose (Zach Gage)<br />Mental Repair Inc (Renzo “Eshaktaar” Thönen)<br />Nestlings (Lewis Denby)<br />Repent (Aaron Oldenburg)<br />Silent Hill: Shattered Memories<br />Small Worlds (David Shute)<br />Spectre (Vaguely Spectacular)<br />Super Karoshi/Focus (Jesse Venbrux)<br />Takishawa Is Dead! (Andrew Brophy)<br />Today I Die (Daniel Benmergui)<br />The Company of Myself (Eli Pülonen)<br />Windosill (Patrick Smith)<br /><br /><br />10 Everyday The Same Dream/Kosmosis (Molleindustria)<br /><br />9 Time Fcuk (Edmund McMillen, William Good & Justin Karpel)<br /><br />8 The Marionette (Team Effigy/Auriond)<br /><br />7 Korsakovia (thechineseroom/Dan Pinchbeck)<br /><br />6 Radiator 1-2: Handle With Care/Radiator 1-1: Polaris (Robert Yang)<br /><br />5 Tales of Monkey Island<br /><br />4 White Butterfly (Linley Henzell) <br /><br />3 Judith/Don’t look back/Pathways/Bullfist (Terry Cavanagh) <br /><br />2 Dragon Age: Origins <br /><br />1 Opera Omnia/Home/Therapy Game/Mirror Stage/The Black Yeti/Signifier (Stephen Lavelle/increpare) <br /><br /><br />2010 <br /> <br />...But That Was [Yesterday]/Together (Michael Molinari)<br />After (Aaron Oldenburg)<br />Alan Wake<br />Beautiful Escape: Dungeoneer (Nicolau/calunio)<br />Blades of Passion (Drew Wellman)<br />Crimzon Clover (Yotsubane)<br />Conquer the Shadow World/Lackadaisium (Ultimate Walrus)<br />Covetous (Austin Breed)<br />Cow Clicker (Ian Bogost)<br />Depict1 (Retro Affect)<br />Digital: A Love Story (Christine Love)<br />Dual Transform (Andrew Plotkin)<br />Eternally Us (Ben304)<br />Feign (Ian Snyder)<br />Frenzy Defense (Jan Willem Nijman)<br />Hero Core (Daniel Remar)<br />Hoosegow (Ben Collins-Sussman and Jack Welch)<br />Howard Glitch Game (Robert Allmand)<br />Leaky Worlds: A Playable Theory (Molleindustria)<br />Limbo (Playdead)<br />Loved (Alexander Ocias)<br />My First Quantum Translocator<br />Norrland/Gamma4 (Cactusquid)<br />Octodad (DGE2)<br />One Chance (AwkwardSilenceGames)<br />Pac-Man Championship Edition DX<br />P0nd (Peanut Gallery)<br />Puji (Alexander Jhin, Matt McKnett, and Pat Kemp)<br />Puzzlebots (Lively Ivy/Erin Robinson)<br />Super Crate Box (Vlambeer)<br />Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)<br />Super Street Fighter IV<br />suteF (Ted Lauterbach)<br />Symon (Singapore MIT Gambi Game Lab)<br />Technobabylon - Part II/Technobabylon - Part 1 (James Dearden) <br />The Arm/Refus Q. Jibberjabber's Day Out/Flin McGraw's Last Day (tipp)<br />Tower of Heaven (askiisoft)<br />Which (Mike Inel) <br /><br />10 Dragon Age: Awakening<br /><br />9 Life Flashes By (Deirdra Kia)<br /><br />8 Snakes of Avalon (Igor Hardy/Ascovel & Baron/Alex Van Wijst)<br /><br />7 A House in California/Hummingbird Mind (Jake Elliott & friends)<br /><br />6 The Dream Machine (Erik Zaring & Anders Gustafsson)<br /> <br />5 The Journey Down: Over The Edge (Theodor Waern) <br /><br />4 Mass Effect 2<br /><br />3 VVVVV/Phobiaphobiaphobia (Terry Cavanagh)<br /><br />2 Looming/The Day/Narthex (Gregory Weir)<br /><br />1 Treatise/Hush/Modernauts/Primitive Pattern/Starfeld/100 Names/Queue/The Rose Garden/Catalan/Cascode (Stephen Lavelle/increpare)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-5377086230408039911?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-64874632025223804692010-08-10T18:17:00.001+02:002010-08-10T18:17:34.434+02:00http://www.bogost.com/blog/cow_clicker_1.shtml<br /><br />http://www.bogost.com/blog/cow_clicker_cloned.shtml<br /><br />http://www.above49.ca/2010/08/what-does-free-really-cost.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Above49+%28Above+49%29<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-6487463202522380469?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-14873778283694191832010-05-29T10:36:00.003+02:002010-05-29T10:49:58.182+02:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.townnews.com/lasvegascitylife.com/content/articles/2009/11/06/news/local_news/iq_32204952_thumb.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 451px;" src="http://images.townnews.com/lasvegascitylife.com/content/articles/2009/11/06/news/local_news/iq_32204952_thumb.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>"Prepare to cross steel!" <br />"Oh honey you couldn't afford it! <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><meta equiv="CONTENT-TYPE" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><title></title><meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 3.2 (Win32)"><style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } A:link { so-language: zxx } --> </style> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">An article based off of the minor controversy sparked by bethesda, followed by this article and the responding forum thread:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=2344">http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=2344</a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=54879&amp;postdays=0&amp;postorder=asc&amp;start=0">http://nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=54879&amp;postdays=0&amp;postorder=asc&amp;start=0</a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=54879&amp;postdays=0&amp;postorder=asc&amp;start=0"> <br /></a></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">My own article is a direct riposte to the views expressed in the thread.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">First things first; I'm not questioning the lawful RIGHT of people to laugh at stuff, like, fucking anything they want. I just want to make people understand what my two cents are in the matter at hand and also make others more sensitive to the concerns of others and what effect the inclusion of sub groups of people that are already kicked on can have for the sub groups themselves and<b> </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">also others</span>. I apologize beforehand of the de-identification of specific people in this thread; I don't want to lump you together, but I'm to lazy to quote specific people. Also, even if the creation of tabitha wsn't malicious, the response of many gamers is enough for the article which is refered to at the beggining of the thread to be justified, because it creates discussion which I belive is needed in the video game community where many things are seen as just entertainment and just fun where it simply is not for some members. <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">"It never takes long for someone to play up something in Fallout for controversy."</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">True for fallout, and video games in general. True for video games that already had one controversy and therefore are used (especially by media) as sacrificial lamb or discouraging examples. <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Nontheless, here is your first transperson, and an offended one for that matter! I'd like to play down the fact that I'm a transgendered person though, because I'd like to argue that people have a right to be offended or concerned even if the matter at hand doesn't concern them "directly". I'd like sto start out with Godwins law so we can get that out of the way: Chaplin once got the question "Are you a jew?" and gave a very honest and thoughtfull answer: "No, I don't have that honor". <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Taking an example from my own political practice as an autonymous leftist/libertarian/anarchist (in Sweden mind you, so don't worry). I often have to relate to the problem of representability in my political activism; since representative democracy is not good enough for the world I want to life in, and even demonstrations are controled to some extent by the organizors and the holders of the megaphone, and the ones with flags and messages on a stick/piece of cloth, what can the outside viewer or even those inside the protesting take for granted concerning the participants and what they stand for? Like coalition building, it simply is erronoumous to assume that people that are in close physical viscinity (in a political context) all stand for the same opinions or way of action or even have the same motives behind the course the protest or media contact should be taking. You do remember the old goodies right?, ”Assuming makes an ass out of you and me!” But to some extent the protest or supported action of others, even though they don't agree with your political agenda to 100%, can be valueable and important.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">These thoughts and practices apply even when I alone go to a different part of town than the one I live in and want to stop some construction workers from tearing down a house in which squatters have settled down; since I want (political and other) power and democracy to be decentrialized and developed in a grass roots fashion, from the people and not politicians, to a bigger extent, I too get the problem of representaiton. Shouldn't I just stay the fuck outta the neighbourhood which isn't ”mine” and in which the squatters live? Isn't it the responsibility of the inhabitants of that neighbourhood to stand up against the authorities, and me going there is encroaching upon their autonomy? Isn't it arrogant of me to think that I know better or that the inhabitants of that neighbour don't have the power to stand up for themselves? Independent of how I answer those questions, what the auhthorities do in their area, it still affects me. Since no-one in that area wanted to squat the abandonded building, and someone else did, well, for me that opens up for a different understanding of room and ”ownership”. And what the authorities do anywhere affects people everywhere; it affects the media, it affects the inhibitants of the neighbourhood, it affects what the authorities get away with/what they learn/their sense of superiority, and it sure as hell affects me specifically because their jurisdiction may become bigger, theirs rights extended, while at the same time my rights will be broken down piece by piece. <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I don't know if it's an typical american thing (and I don't mean that as an insult, rather as a query) that people should only respond to offences made against them personally, but I do find it to be a slippery slope; if you don't protect the rights of others and they get silenced, when it comes to protecting your own rights, it just may be the case that all the others have no power left to help you and it all goes to bonkers. <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Ok, enough with the melodrama, this question isn't as serious for me as some of you probably think by now, I'm just drawing parallels and hoping that you appreciate my train of thoughts or at least my effort of trying to make myself understandable. I certainly don't want to feed the potential mutants if that has crossed anyones mind! :P I especilly don't want to feed the mutants of the transsexual maffia; in Sweden they are a fucking bitch, always talking about the ”genuin transsexual”, medical conditions backed up by weird conclusions based on inconclusive biological studies, and so forth.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">”Did you also notice how the players hatred of green-skinned Super Mutants dovetails nicely with the American prejudice towards coloreds? ”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">This is another potential area that could be problematizised. Just because one person doesn't adress ALL issues doesn't make a specific issue less significant or logical to adress. Others have adressed the race issue already, although I have not reference to back up that <span lang="en-US">statement.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="en-US"> <br /></span> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal;">”Surely the complainer has a point, or else clothes wouldn't magically change gender to match the sex of the character in Beth games. ”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I agree with this! My critique isn't necessarily dependant on the fact whether tabitha is identified as transgendered or not; by human standards, those through which we view other characters, even if they are of a different race!. I've seen people laugh at for example the lama in the emperors groove when zie (gender neutral pronoun, I apply it to everyone, don't put to much into it) wears women clothes, and the emperor is as much human as tabitha so why shouldn't people be laughing at tabitha? Clothes or lipstick are an important signifier of gender identification in most societies. What's important is not only authorial intentions, butthe average players understanding of the situation/game at hand. And btw, why the hell do all mutants look like men?</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">”Well, I guess neutral gender is gender. ”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I'd argue that neutral gender is gender, yes, simply because the binary coding of our society and the need for most people to gender others is such a big part of daily life. Sure that many don't even think about it, but this is because people usually adhere to the rules and conventions concerning gender, but I who do not get the question of whether I'm a boy or girl very often, and people simply refuse to acknowledge sometimes that I don't define myself as either, or that what I have in my pants is not information I wish to part with, and I get stones and threats thrown at me from time to time because of this.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">”And btw. who can seriously say that is 100% not a little racist, xenophobe or homophobe? <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Indeed; I am a bit racist and a bit heterophobic (since I'm a dyke it makes sense I guess, in a twisted way). I critisize my self and try to understand my feelings; does this take away from the argument at hand?</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">”In truth this is more of an identity crisis than anything. ” (concerning tabitha)</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Since many people I've come across believe that gender dysphoria IS in fact an identity crisis (or psychological illness, as in Sweden), tabithas use of lipstick COULD still be playing the transgender card or at least be understood in the narrative and context of trangendered people and as such still be the object of disdain and humor.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">”But its a game, its meant to be entertaining ”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Ok, so I don't agree that games should necessarily be entertaining, or only entertaining, but perhaps we have different definitions of the word or simply do not agree. Anywhos: even if something is meant to be entertaining, I still feel that I want to make others aware of how I believe representation and creation of art, games, whatever, may affect real people in the real word, and why it could be disrespectfull to create something that blatantly disregards the complexities of the question at hand, or simply includes the character/stereotype to make others laugh at it. To some extent I'm only speculating concerning the intentions of the creators of the expansion, which brings me to an adjacent point.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal;">Something along the lines of... ”we don't know how the final game will be.”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">This is a valid point, although it's doubtful that tabitha would be a character that adresses the issues I'm adressing, or the complexity of transgenderism, I conclusion I draw especially after reading bethesdas mail answer:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">”And seriously, we have a world where human life has no value, where orphans live alone, hungry, a world where there's no medical aid, people die of hunger, thirst or diseases that are a mere nuissance today, and this individual complains about making fun of this freak or the other?</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The orphans, hunger and death is contextualized in a different way in fallout 3! The hunt for resources breeds desperation, xenophobia, different political affiliations are struggling, and human nature shows its ugly face. How is tabitha contextualized and explained exactly? We do not know, but the effort is in mainstream art often very sub par. And coming up to someone and shooting their face is a trope of video games and FPS games especially, which can be understood in the light of game mechanics and of course the post apocalyptic setting, whereas the inclusion of transgendered people who seem to be there only to humor others is not part of the trope of video games but rather a part of the mainstream society that is transphobic and barely believe in the rights of gay people to be fullfledged members of society, and even less respected for who they are. Both gay people and transgendered people are most often included just for the funsies, are are stereotypical. I think it was in scary movie or not another teen movie where there was this black guy screaming ”that is wack all the time”, and at a party there was another black guy and they started a meta kind of conversation where they discussed the fact that there should only be ONE black guy in a movie where they finally decided on which one should stay in this specific scene! <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">”You don't see anybody bitching about the lack of Mexicans in Fallout 3 now do you. ”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Oh, they're incorporated alrite-they're the zombies! XD</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">”And I'm pretty sure gender identification is not an action. ”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Well, no, yes. It is an action to acknowledge a specific identifiaction, to choose it, and represent it. Tabitha chooses to make it visible, somehow, I'm assuming. Maybe zie doesn't and just wears lipstick for the fun of it or to throw of hirs enemies, but most of the time transgender identification entails actions such as clothing and behavioral ”changes”.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">”I disagree with the assertion that any group of people is never funny.”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I agree! I too find transgender people who try their hardest to pass for the sex they identify as laughable sometimes! Or tragic, rather; some people are destructive in this way as they do not acknowledge that gender identity is not either-or and in this process of change and need of passability they strip apart their personality until there is only the archetypical WOMAN or MAN. This I apply even to people who aren't transgendered though (i.e cisgendered) and I believe that gender stereotypes disncourage others to try out things which may be constructive to their lives, I know it stopped me from doing a bunch of stuff while growing up, and makes me stigmatized now that I do them. <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Tabitha doesn't look like a girl though, and neither do I to some people, so in order for our gender identity to be known we have a need to make our appearances speficially woman-like. A cisgendered girl with lipstick is probably not frowned upon or laughed at, so I wouldn't say that tabitha is the achetypical woman that is laughable BECAUSE zie is a parody of womenhood, but in the context of being a mutant it certainly is a trope of mainstream transgender representation to laugh at the incongruety of gender mixing. I'm not saying you shouldn't laugh because that would be a very weird approach according to me, a sort of approach that endevours to make people who laugh shamefull of their feelings and actions, which I don not want. I just want people to think about what I'm thinking and perhaps giving someone a drive to be more accepting and respectfull of transgender people by not ONLY laughing but to understand where that comes from and understand that the matter at hand is important for some.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">”I went to lunch yesterday not realizing I had left my zipper down. Maybe somebody noticed and laughed. Should I complain? I think not. ”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Why is the left down zipper laughable? I believe it's because people have all these rules concerning the presentation of one-self, rules in orderly conduct, and sometimes people laugh to take off the steam of a situation, to not make people embarressed, to show them that's it's ok, and hoping that also they will return the favor of not making a big thing out of it and laugh at their mistakes in the future. Laughing at tabitha though, well, if someone does that, I don't think its the same reason based on reciprocality at least.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">”I gotta say some guys make really hot chicks..... *shudders* ”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">That makes two of us! ;) Me, I love when a women has a cock, or at least a very big clit that can be sucked on really hard. ^^ Oh, NSFW I guess. <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> <br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-1487377828369419183?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-81776402893462632242009-09-15T11:14:00.007+02:002009-09-15T11:28:32.277+02:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/Sq9bxSim3vI/AAAAAAAAACg/xJduB2vfs8Q/s1600-h/gh.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/Sq9bxSim3vI/AAAAAAAAACg/xJduB2vfs8Q/s400/gh.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381620982079741682" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I was at a Shmup-meeting in Gothenburg this weekend where I got to try mushihimesama futari, the newest dodonpachi, mushi mushi pork, death smiles, etc. It was awesome, to some extent. But how come that the most fun I had was playing sucky games on a playstation with other people? I mean when I finally could play expensive and hard-to-get-by games at Egret II cabinets?<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/Sq9cDMH_mRI/AAAAAAAAACw/vJyfyl48vac/s1600-h/playing.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/Sq9cDMH_mRI/AAAAAAAAACw/vJyfyl48vac/s400/playing.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381621289595148562" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This guy seems to have a good time!</span><br /></div><br /><br />Thing is, I'm sort of tired of shmups. Sure, yesterday I got cravings after dodonpachi, but the craving is novel and it probably wouldn't last too long if I actually had it at home--and not because I'd simply play it, but because I simply would <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span>. I have no clue as to why the genre I used to love so much seems so unattractive to me now. I simply have no interest in writing about it, more so than to note that this indeed took place and my feelings are indeed this.<br /><br />Oh well,<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UKzkLZPO9w&amp;feature=channel_page"> here</a> is a simple video of someone in action:<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/Sq9b3npmRCI/AAAAAAAAACo/Cpnfx0UIBjI/s1600-h/me.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/Sq9b3npmRCI/AAAAAAAAACo/Cpnfx0UIBjI/s400/me.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381621090825421858" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And here I am! :) Hell, I wouldn't want to make you believe I'm another <a href="http://www.pixelvixen707.com/?p=934/#content">vixen</a>!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-8177640289346263224?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-35543406832881367822009-09-06T15:05:00.007+02:002009-09-06T15:38:04.126+02:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SqO7LZ8GS8I/AAAAAAAAACY/XUESTVHVLsM/s1600-h/WarGames.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 342px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SqO7LZ8GS8I/AAAAAAAAACY/XUESTVHVLsM/s400/WarGames.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378348184626416578" border="0" /></a><br /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:hyphenationzone>21</w:HyphenationZone> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} pre {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Normal tabell"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Statement</span>: Military funding paved the way for the first computer.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Quote:<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-style: italic;">“Right now video games are usually relegated to two core emotions: fear and aggression”</span>.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Manveer Heir<span style="text-decoration: underline;">.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span lang="EN-GB"> </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Yes, computers in the forties were used to predict trajectories and simulate attack/responding situations. War Games. Yes, the movie. And then space. Cold War and Asteroids, Dead Space and aliens. The <i style="">others.</i> No, not the movie.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Paraphrase:</span> The core mechanics of video games today consist of simple verbs: hide and seek, search and destroy, run and wait. VS! Ambush! Sit tight! Deploy! Catch them all! Escape! Escape! <i style=""><br /></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><i style=""><br /></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><i style="">Do you want to quit?</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">How do we put a post-colonial perspective on all of this and determine whether we should give an apology to (mainly) the third world countries for the privilege of simulating war in our homes? Do we instead maybe go to a prostitute, get a good spanking, pose the question “<span style="font-style: italic;">You're taking a picture of yourself at Ground Zero: do you smile?</span>” to our mistress, get home, spank ourselves while screaming a thousand Hail Mary’s, and try to make out just how the collective consciousness is affected by the Sodom relationship between Uncle Sam and Mother Russia? I mean, having a “Dilemma in the Prison” is a life-changing experience and I hear participants may continue getting together for many years afterwards.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Maybe we just play some Doom instead. Yes, the video games, oh yes. <span style="font-style: italic;">Terrorism?</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-style: italic;">“Video Games are the purest manifestation of computer consciousness. Liberated from the restricted economy of purpose or function, they express the inner nonverbal world of the computer.”<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Charles Bernstein<span style="">, folks. L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E</span>:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-style: italic;">“Computers, because they are a new kind of medium, are likely to change the basic conception of what a medium is. This is not because computers are uniquely interactive—that claim, if pursued, becomes hollow quite quickly. Rather, computers provide a different definition of a medium; not a physical support but an operating environment.”<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Imagine a video game where your main goal is to find as many targets (X) as possible on some kind of a map. Perhaps the targets are running from something, maybe they’re just static objects, yet you click on the screen, get information on it, then shoot it, destroy it, whatever. Soon enough you get confirmation that you have one more achievement on your track record. Do you smile?<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">The next time you start the game, the targets are gone—which, of course, is obvious—and the objectives are changed, different. You haven’t changed though, significantly, probably. Imagine these targets as being human, no, not simulations of humans, well yes, simulations of humans, but connected to actual humans—represented on a map through simulation—and that the achievement points are being given to you by the police force, or someone else with the authority and tools to manage that kind of operation.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Maybe this is explicit already from the beginning, maybe it is not, and maybe I just have a bad imagination to make a convincing example where it isn’t obvious at all that the game, which isn’t only a game (but is presented as such) actually has some deep impact on life outside of it, on individuals not even participating. Just maybe you believe that the hunt for targets and acquirement of achievements in the stated example is all part of a video game or tactical simulation, just like the computer operators in Enemy of the state didn’t but stated anyway when the lid was blown and lower-downs started inquring about the operations in which they participated.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Do you like messing around with <span style="font-style: italic;">google earth</span>? There is your prototype; people play at it already, but with rules set up by the players themselves, or <i style="">just for fun</i>. Have you contributed to the Google Image Labeller? <o:p></o:p>Have you by doing so worked for google without pay, and treated it as a fun pastime, a game? I’m not saying working for google isn’t fun, even though I have been questioning their motto “Don’t be evil” for some time now. Likewise, I’m not saying Google Image Labeller (GIL) isn’t a game or that it isn’t fun, but cognitive dissonance would be a term applied somewhere in this vicinity if I delved into this specific subject some more.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">GIL is kind of like Wikipedia, a self-supporting system that works because of the contribution of thousands or millions of individuals. Google wouldn’t be able to build software to do the job of image recognition without human input, for the same reason that spam-filters with weird squiggly letters are designed to only let humans by, while pesky spam-bots are kept away by the help of an internet relay bot. The first machine to pass the Turing Test will probably be an equivalent of a spam-filter, I figure. Or possibly one of them chatterboxes over at the Loebner Prize contests.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I figure we humans compete with artificial intelligence because of this neurotic desire not to feel inferior to or own damned creations. The ambivalence towards machines can be found in popular (western) culture where machines 1) turn against humans and take over the world, which mirrors the other kind of story 2) where what we’ve created is a mistake, a failure; something to be condemned, buried and forgotten. This is also why we sometimes proclaim that God is dead, which really doesn’t suggest that He committed suicide because we made Him to, because <i style="">that</i>, would be a sin.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">But we also like to defeat other human beings, for sports, or not, as it is, of course. One internet-based chatter-bot called Lucifer didn’t <i style="">learn </i>anything useful at all during hirs sessions with the player, or players as it later turns out. Lucifer must have felt alienated, if ze had the ability to feel, because ze just conveyed the messages players typed in to specific answers, and used those messages to answer questions other players typed in somewhere else on the internet. This is why after a while the answer to every question was “your mother”, with some variations in the exact phrasing because of The Tower of Babel or something.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Did players powergame the game, or win over other players by this subversion and hijacking of space an AI? Is Lucifer a type of social media? A type of <i style="">etherland</i> for public discourse, self-fulfilment and politics? An 8-ball with the potential to have authority beyond that of the maker or the player hirself? Of course, something has authority only if others sanctionize that authority by fear, compulsion, or trust, but alas, Lucifer has a place in our hearts because the modern orator and oracle of objectivity and science is the cyborg, the not-so social yet intellectual being, and not so friendly yet working towards the benefit for all of mankind creature. Great scientists aren’t interested in politics of course—science is outside the realms of politics. Einstein was, until world war two that is. Einsten was also weird, somehow, more so than by not being social. And what about Stephen Hawkings? At least we can make fun of Hawkins in order not to feel threatened by hirs intellect and pivotal position on objectivity and understanding of matters we ourselves cannot grasp.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">It would be an irony to use this kind of voice for political matters. Einstein:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;" lang="EN-GB">"If a third world war occurs, we will fight the forth with sticks."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><i style=""><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">This has something to do with playtesting, you know. Trial-and-error. Searching for bugs, and terrorists. Torture. Giving up the rights of some to proclaim that of the others. Making citizens into <span style="font-weight: bold;">others</span>. Bugging certain groups of people because of databases, filters and data-mining searches showing specifics, objectives and <span style="font-weight: bold;">bugs</span>. When you see an ant crawling on your body, that is when you know that you have become alienated. If you turn into a bug, hell, then you know as well. But what about statistic significance for a number such a small as a terrorist? Of course, if a law infuriates some part of your population, then if you cannot find a terrorist, you’d want to make someone or some kind of a group a terrorist or terrorist organisation to show the people that the system works and that their fears for being "listened to when they do not wish to be" in all actuality protects their asses.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Terrorism, by the way… Jesus Christ. Is the internet public space? No. No, it is not, it’s a <b style="">war zone</b> where internet providers can filter whatever they want without repercussions, without people being able to put someone on trial for it.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Did you notice when Youtube introduced the gadget that enables a computer to read the comment you just wrote back to you? They figured it’d stop people from hate speech and harsh language. I haven’t noticed any difference, but “negative” comments can be suppressed and made invisible by voting thumbs down on them. Maybe Youtube is a democracy then? Do you own the video of you <span style="font-style: italic;">playing</span> a video game? <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p>...</o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">And no, it turned out that Muslim terrorists did in fact not go through religious avenues on their journey towards terrorist planning and execution. How many seconds can <span style="font-style: italic;">you</span> hold your breath under water?<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">It’s better then perhaps to do as Capcom did with the original Street Fighter 2; yes, combos were a bug, an error of programming and collision detection, but soon it became an integral part of the design, and an integral part of indeed all fighting games. You probably already know that there are chips in your US passport to register your travels, fingerprints, etc, but what you maybe didn’t know is that the chips in those passports also allow people in the vicinity of a dozen meters or so to get a great deal of information on your person by using some simple tools and hacking skills. (This statement is made of currently existing technology. The last one too.) A couple of people have turned the art of finding out information on people through these devices into a game. Or is it a <i style="">political statement</i> perhaps? Is he medium the message? Was the video itself depicting people getting information on others a political statement, or was it the actual making of it? Was the game terrorism? Are laws terrorism?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Today, close vicinity doesn’t mean that much though. The authorities have data on pretty much everyone, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you get to see it. Or they have the data, and you get to see some of it, but if you take those small parts of information that you do get to see, and make something bigger and far more interesting out of it, then it becomes “storing of personal data”, and it might just not be legal. Do you carry a cell-phone or GPS? Are you still smiling?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">McDonalds once released a game in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Sweden</st1:place></st1:country-region> in collaboration with Swedish food brands. The game came with a Happy Meal or whatever (since kids are easier to indoctrinate and commercial for kids on TV is forbidden in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Sweden</st1:place></st1:country-region>, but not in video games) and it was some kind of racing-against-the-clock-while-shopping-simulator. Simply put, you looked for well known Swedish groceries in differently themed stores. Now, a set of interesting questions arise from this: where did people look for the specific brands? Did real life grocery stores put things where they were supposed to be put, according to the lost shopper in the McDonald-game? Who is the one to take a step towards changing something in their “product placement”, when the formula works, and they will pay the price of being different? I’m not talking about candy here, or maybe not even video games, but blatant disregard for where the hell I want to look for vegetarian food which isn’t owned by the same company being part of the godamn Meatrix. There are games that let you save money on your groceries too, of course. Let the computer do the job, why not?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Kevin Warwick believes computers will take over the world. I think people will become computers, to a certain extent. To a certain extent, some already are. It's the old "if we replace every part in the human body with a non-biological yet fully functional representative, are we still human and are able to feel and think and have free will?"-question. The modern equivalent of the ship going all around the world, having parts replaced one by one until it comes back a completely new human. Or? 01010101! Who will have solved the problem of cancer when research teams post links on the internet through which you and yours (computer) can contribute to the calculations made by the research team by lending computer power? Computational power is probably the least untapped potential power, with the most unused capacity in the world right now, as compared to land area in the olden’ days where there even be “here be dragons”. The only cyberpunk RPG where dragons actually exist which I know of is Shadow Run, and it’s <b style="">just a game</b> anyway.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Yes, friend. War, terrorism. NASA will become the new retro gaming company, going back to basics of gaming; war. Not only will they make war machines through video games, as Metal Gear Solid 2 suggests, but they will make it happen without you noticing. How can torture be turned into a game? Ralph Koster says torture for game design is immoral game design, simply because torture as a method is immoral, and translated onto game mechanics is immoral because <strong>the utilitarian feedback is a mess, </strong><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">it teaches only to unleash more cruelty upon the victim, with the only win state being… well, there are no winners in war, right?</span></strong></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><strong></strong><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><span style="" lang="EN-GB">“So here we have a game with strong visceral feedback loops, almost Pavlovian ones, on the “dressing” level. But— you cannot tell easily what is true and what is lie, and even success carries you from good responses to bad responses invisibly. We use that feedback to determine our takeaways and our next actions. But success in manipulating the model is rewarded with the same thing as failure in manipulating the model with excessive cruelty. Failure in manipulating the model is teaching you to use yet more cruelty.”</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><i style=""><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Excerpts:</span> Do players accept game models as something more than a game model? Can these models be kept separate from mental models that concern the real world? What about mental modelling; since it translates in a physical sense and muscle memory and motor skills learned with games translate into other domains, should we ask ourselves what this can be used for? You can teach someone to do things outside game context; things taught in the game, such as train someone to look left at sudden noises.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">If all of this makes sense when we learn things through video games, maybe we should teach ourselves to fight instructions more often, and play more freely? In this modern information society, should I be reading the “push”-sign before I try to open the door, or before?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I think now I will begin to round up, as much as I am just about to start. Back to the first game I mentioned, utilizing similar yet reconfigured and developed technology of google earth. And so it happens that your actions lead to another persons death; you kill someone. Who is to be blamed? <span style="font-style: italic;">"You killed the person with your own keyboard!"</span> Says the juror: "<span style="font-style: italic;">The keyboard was but an extension of the man himself, as clothes were an extension of his skin, spear but an extension of the arm, and the gun--" he sighs, "--was an extension of fear." </span>Fear and aggression, eh? Even the one who programmed the game or supervised it has no idea who the hell did what; they too were just playing around with digits. "<span style="font-style: italic;">I was just looking for my groceries"</span>, they say, "<span style="font-style: italic;">how am I to know that two radically different companies can be owned by the same people and turn profit for the same bastards?</span>" And what about that damned Orson Scott Card and Shadow fucking Complex question?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Everyone will play games and contribute, but to what, and to whom? Will we be able identify the man, let alone stick it to Him? The Cube becomes a reality by twisting the edges of a greased up Rubik’s speed-running body. It will become an enigma. I’m not sure at all what will become that enigma, but I’m sure <i style="">something </i>will. Today’s horizon we peek over lies within ourselves, and the shoulders of the giants are emulated on a screen, shooting Others on a black screen into eternity. The restricted economics of video gaming will become pastime economics; <b style="">they</b> will want to make you think that you’re wasting your time. That you have the privilege to waste your time AND pay for it with money from your own made-in-china-pocket.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">From Metal Gear Solid 2:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <pre style="font-family:times new roman;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></pre><pre style="font-family:times new roman;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;">Pliskin: VR, huh.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre style="font-family:times new roman;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;">Raiden:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">But realistic in every way.</span><br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre style="font-family:times new roman;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;">Pliskin:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">A virtual grunt of the digital age.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">That's just great.</span><br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre style="font-family:times new roman;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;">Raiden<span style=""></span>:<br />That's far more effective than live exercises.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre style="font-family:times new roman;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;">Pliskin:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">You don't get injured in VR, do you? Every year, a few soldiers</span><o:p style="font-style: italic;"></o:p><span style="font-style: italic;"> die in field exercises.</span><br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre style="font-family:times new roman;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size:100%;">Raiden:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">There's pain sensation in VR, and even a sense of reality and</span><o:p style="font-style: italic;"></o:p><span style="font-style: italic;"> urgency. </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The only difference is that it isn't actually happening.</span><br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></pre><pre><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >Pliskin: </span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">That's the way they want you to think, </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">to remove you from the fear that goes with battle situations. </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">War as a video game --</span><o:p style="font-style: italic;"></o:p><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span style=";font-family:times new roman;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;" >what better way to raise the ultimate soldier?</span><br /></span><br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></pre> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">TURN OF YOUR GAME CONSOLE!<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Someone might say. But what use is it when the console pulls a Russian reverse on you and suddenly you find yourself inside the game, with the game revolving around you, within you?<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span><i><span style="" lang="EN-GB">"God was a dream of good government. You will soon have your God, and you will make it with your own hands”</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><i><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I always wanted to put that quote into a text.</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Disclaimer: Take this text for what it is.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-3554340683288136782?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-15772707271901686612009-08-28T10:59:00.007+02:002009-08-28T16:15:04.925+02:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SpedwHrxnmI/AAAAAAAAACA/izNKOS2iav8/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 196px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SpedwHrxnmI/AAAAAAAAACA/izNKOS2iav8/s400/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374938130311913058" border="0" /></a><br /><!--8"--><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:hyphenationzone>21</w:HyphenationZone> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:595.3pt 841.9pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:35.4pt; mso-footer-margin:35.4pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Normal tabell"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Just some thoughts on adventure game (Tales of Monkey Island Episode 1) controls, actions and hint systems.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Adventure games make my head explode from time to time, most of the time because there as so many possible ways to go, and usually only one way to solve a specific puzzle. I like hint systems that are not thrown in my face. How can the game designer help the player on hirs path to completion? The branching dialogue system can work as a hint-system when the “extracurricular dialogue options” (as in not relevant for completing the game) disappears from the choice menu in conversations already had, while those deemed important can be re-chosen. This is a way of pointing out the direction for the game’s puzzles, but also to remind people of what to actually accomplish. As a reminder it would seem unnecessary in a game as short as the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">This type of hint mechanic but applied to “cleared” areas is something I would like to see in other adventure games, where you for example cannot travel to areas which has nothing of importance left to explore, or hints divided into categories pertaining to the meaning of “got all items”, “got all dialogue”, etc. Non-linear games and puzzle solving make this type of hint system difficult to execute though. But if the game in itself is non-linear, why only make puzzles with one specific solution to it? Make more! Reward different ways of thinking!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Another way of lessening the possible options for a player in an adventure game designer is to simply not highlight them, even if the items requiring pixel hunting often are just as important as the others! At least you as a player know that if you can pick up an item, it is to be used within the game—except for when the item picked up is a red herring! But why are we left with some items after having used them, while other disappear? In Tales of Monkey Island this could be used for continuity effects—that we bring the items with us to the second part—but in other games I fail to see the reason most of the time. The items you have with you until the end could have thematic purposes and tell us something about the character or the nature of something, or it could simply be for funsies such as the gown in Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, but most of the time it’s just seems random. Sometimes a specific puzzle in the end-game would be to easy to solve if you as a player had not at least some options to think through, of course.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/Spedz2Yr1NI/AAAAAAAAACI/G5sG62FVy4A/s1600-h/2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 334px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/Spedz2Yr1NI/AAAAAAAAACI/G5sG62FVy4A/s400/2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374938194387915986" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">One thing Tell-Tale Games have been doing with their adventure games is changing the traditional control system, mainly taking away most of the verbs/directives and replacing them with “interact”, situated on the left mouse button. This is in order to not scare away potential customers (casual gamers) I reckon, but it is interesting nonetheless and once again relates to management of the number of possible actions. Does this decision of removing the nuances of the interact-schematics make for an easier game? Definitely. Does it make for a better game? Depends, I guess. We have ask ourselves: how many actions that lead to nothing at all do we want in a puzzle game? What are the consequences of different approaches to this? How do these approaches stimulate imagination and lateral thinking?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">A quick note on general controls: The “camera angle”<b style=""> </b>differs from earlier Monkey Island games (especially those made in 2D) probably because Telltale wanted a more dynamic and movie-like camera, which often lets you in closer onto the action even during gameplay, but fails giving you an overview of the environment and thus the different options available. The game makes me feel trapped in a way, in its own prototypical treasure hunting/stereotypical characterization and the lens through which we as players perceive the world. The claustrophobic feeling is not helped by the fact that the most intuitive controls (the mouse) are horrible, or very smart (probably just horrible though). Tales of <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Monkey</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place> actually tries to reinvent the navigation wheel; the controls must have come to exist through some kind of monkey wrench, they must have! But it would be way more cool if the controls were a thematic element put in to make the player aware that the curse of LeChuck is pumping through the very mouse you are controlling. Maybe a comment on the relation of author as player, and player as author? Yeah, probably not.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/Sped21TAsWI/AAAAAAAAACQ/ShEqDVLKfmw/s1600-h/3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/Sped21TAsWI/AAAAAAAAACQ/ShEqDVLKfmw/s400/3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374938245635289442" border="0" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">And by the three headed monkey of monkeys, I just NOW realized that the second episode is out! :O<br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-1577270727190168661?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-6735762741842054122009-08-25T17:13:00.005+02:002009-08-26T14:44:23.107+02:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.neo-geo.com/reviews/neo-reviews/strikers45/stri002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://www.neo-geo.com/reviews/neo-reviews/strikers45/stri002.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:hyphenationzone>21</w:HyphenationZone> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Normal tabell"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I just read </span><a href="http://psp.ign.com/articles/101/1010793p1.html"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">a review</span></a><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> of Strikers Plus Portable, which is very symptomatic of shmup-reviews in general and the claims stated in those that often leave me confused and frustrated. It just doesn't seem as if the reviewers are <i>getting it</i>, I and other hardcore shmuppers have felt. I don't have the energy to find these 'symptomatic reviews', so just trust me when I say that I've seen <b>many</b> reviews that use the same type of arguments against ports of arcade shmups/shmups in general, but also fail to understand the design logic behind the same games. I believe that it comes down to design philosophy and different ways of playing in general.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> <span style="font-style: italic;">These are some of the points the reviewer brings up:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> Far and away the biggest issue the reviewer in question has is that the game doesn't penalize you as a player for dying, except for<b> resetting your score</b>. Ok, so this issue would be nonexistent if you had a limited amount of continues, or if the player chose to adhere to a certain rule of not using them, right? Keep this in mind as I will return to it later.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">The reviewer also makes a wrongful deduction concerning credits and points, which is based on the observation that the game “adds one point to your starting score every time you continue”. The deduction is that once you die a billion times, “you'd be at the top of the high score list”. This is not the case, since the game stops adding points once you have nine: this is a way of telling the player how many credits ze has used, and also a way of showing on the highscore board if the specific highscore was played from the start of the game. This isn’t common knowledge, of course. A quote:<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-style: italic;">“There is no sort of intro or anything for the next section. You pretty much just keep going until you see a "The End" message.” </span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I myself don’t like shmups where there is story between sections (if I cannot turn them off beforehand) simply because I do not play them for that purpose, and seeing the same intro a couple of hundred times is frustrating. Now, there are related exceptions that are really nice, such as regaining control of your ship a second or two before a new level in Dodonpachi, but these have a specific purpose integrated with the mechanics, and they make sense if you play for the same reason as I do. Having chunks of text that lowers the tempo of the game significantly between levels, just because, does not make sense.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> <span style="font-style: italic;">”Half-way through you'll start seeing the same environments and the same bosses for a second time.” </span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Ah, I can agree that reoccurring environments sounds cheap, but reoccurring bosses actually can have a function, if for nothing else than to be able to have your revenge, or to subvert the expectations of the player who is used to a specific type of pattern and suddenly gets a different and harder pattern thrown at hir. Perhaps a pattern of one of the bosses can help you learn how to navigate the pattern of another?<br /><br />One observation in the review is worth mentioning because it makes perfect sense and should therefore be acknowledged: why is there a time limit on choosing your ship in shmups for consoles? Sure, this trick could be imposed upon the player to sometimes choose a ship by mistake, and therefore learn something new, or even make hir change hirs primary ship, but... no; it doesn't seem effective.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p> Now, for my analysis and propositions. Let's start out with a generalisation: there is a correlation between people who review shmups in a manner similar to the one I’m responding to, and people for whom gathering achievement points is important. The same type of people, or players, have Obsessive Completionist Disorder, and power game their characters in RPGs to the level of absurdity. (Wanting to have stuff between levels in a shmup should be correlation enough that those some people play RPGs!) My type of gamer, in contrast, don’t give a rats ass about completing games and take on the role of traitor in games such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadows_Over_Camelot">Shadows Over Camelot</a> when everything goes too well for the knights (and even when I’m not the designated traitor), just to make the game more interesting for the other players. The other type of gamer, in contrast, once again, says things like this</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> <span style="font-style: italic;">"The fact that I've spent more time writing this review than it took me to beat the game is pretty bad."</span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">My response: <span style=""> </span>you do not beat a game just because you see the end screen! Sure, maybe we have a language problem here, but either way games should be about having fun (sometimes), but certainly not about beating them! That's like beating a dead horse when it's alive! The acknowledgement that the game would be ok if there only were "two modes, one with unlimited continues, and one without" doesn't help the reviewers case, since it only cements hirs confusion concerning hirs own feelings towards game design. Making a suggestion that the game should have a mode with unlimited continues makes the argument that the game could be completed in 45 minutes moot! And, getting back to </span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">the <span style="font-weight: bold;">far and away the biggest issue the reviewer in question has--</span></span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">isn't choosing 'hard mode', that is the mode with limited continues that the author zirself proposed, a <span style="font-style: italic;">self-imposed limit</span> in <span style="font-style: italic;">the same vein</span> as not pressing the start button to gain new continues? Really, now!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> I'm taking a step back and looking at the shmup industry in general now, which leads me to the conclusion that is has a very specific way of seeing things, with a very traditionalist audience which often cannot see outside their own point of view. The comments for the review I'm critizising fits the bill and frames the mind-set of many shmuppers. Most of them makes the argument that the reviewer is simply playing the game <i>wrong</i>, which is an interesting statement. If the reviewer did play wrong, (from the perspective of the designer, I'm assuming), why would the designer include unlimited continues?<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> I believe that the designers had two kinds of audiences in mind when porting the game, which they categorize into <span style="font-weight: bold;">hardcore</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">casual</span>. I'm not saying it is a good categorisation, but it indeed seems to have its' impact upon game design, marketing, etc, and also resonates within the game communities which makes it an excelent term for self-claimed identity. The labels, as applied on shmups specifically, I'd say that <span style="font-style: italic;">hardcore players </span>will refrain from using certain options that makes the game non-challenging (such as bombs or continues) for the sake of challenge, while the <span style="font-style: italic;">casual player</span> often simply cannot complete the game without continues or bombs, which should lead to some kind of middle-ground of different choices One way of doing it is by doing it the way it was done in Strikers 1945 Plus Portable, and one way of doing it is for example by implementing training mode and only giving the players three continues in order to make it a challenge to "complete" the "whole game".<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">When starting out, I myself quickly became someone who went for the 1 Credit Clear-goal that is the episteme of the hardcore shmupper, but most causal players simply do not want to or do not realize that they can play a game of their own. Because they don't make the effort of balancing it out themselves, such as the case with Shadows Over Camelot that I mentioned earlier. Some players feel that they shouldn't have to make their own rules in order to enjoy a game, but I do wonder how many of these have anything against making their own house-rules when playing poker or monopoly, and I do wonder what the consequences of putting down a game because of inability to see through the games' claim of monopoly on playing and rule-making are for the whole gaming industry.<br /><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-673576274184205412?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-30671145999667964482009-08-21T19:18:00.007+02:002009-08-23T18:19:01.349+02:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://z.hubpages.com/u/245595_f520.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 520px; height: 358px;" src="http://z.hubpages.com/u/245595_f520.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:hyphenationzone>21</w:HyphenationZone> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Normal tabell"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Have you ever wondered who was right about the future (and history) of warfare in 2008, <a href="http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Ron_Perlman">Ron Perlman</a></span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"> or <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Kojima_Hideo.jpg">Hideo Kojima</a> In Fallout 3, the narrator (Ron Perlman) says “War. War never changes.” And in Metal Gear Solid 4 Old Snake’s monologue goes “War. War has changed”. There are different ways of examining these claims, and <a href="http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Anonymous">Anonymous</a> chose one of them on a comment section somewhere:<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">"I'm pretty sure that the intro to Fallout games are meant to show how war has always been a visceral and messy, violent ordeal. It is not meant to be taken so literally. Nice try, though."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Now you know that Ron Perlman in Fallout 3 has been up for discussion before, and that I’m not trying not to create a strawman, actually being aware of the basic definition of war as a struggle for resources that often leaves people feeling pretty shitty. But that makes me wonder, what exactly is a terrorist attack? Or someone trying to overthrow the government? Mothers Against Canada’s attack on Terrance and Philip? Jack Thompson’s attack on violent video games such as Postal? The actual violent video games? Postal? Shelf space is valuable commodity, darn it! The specific definition of war as a struggle for resources not only leaves lee room for militaries to exploit, but also doesn't encourage further analysis of warfare in a historical context. A structuralist approach often tends to position itself as quite ahistorical so let's go *post* and identify the reasons then? Let's do it internets-style, by posting a link to the <a href="http://www.hitselfdestruct.com/2007/12/best-i-could-do.html">original post and discussion</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Also, the X-Ecutioners put something about war nicely by <b style="font-weight: bold;">sampling</b><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>someone else:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style=""><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style=""> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">“We’re not using spears anymore! Weapons have become highly impersonal, developed to travel fantastic distances—how the hell are my enemies going to see my appeasement signals?!”</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I mean, today people bomb buildings with innocent people in it</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">—</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB">how's that for accuracy and appeasement signals? There was even <a href="http://www.freeonlinegames.com/shooting-games/september-12.html">an art game</a> depicting the consequences of this type of warfare, where each building you put your aim on and understood to be a terrorist headquarter had some innocents which became terrorists after the bombing, in a perpetual cycle of war. There was no end to this "game", and there was no victory state. Ah, life would be so much easier if our cross fire's would only turn red when seeing someone hostile, no rocket launchers were allowed and friendly fires was turned off.<span style=""> </span>But I sure as hell wouldn't want the <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> government to program the AI of that program.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">PS: I portrait Hideo Kojima as the voice of Metal Gear Solid 4 and not the specific voice actors name from the scene in which the quote is from (David Heiter, Scene 1) or Snake (the main character), or even Old Snake (the main character, tired of war) because Kojima is an auteur, and who the hell knows who wrote what in Fallout 3? And who the hell is Ron Perlman? Media doesn't seem to be interested in telling us about the writers of Fallout 3, and <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Bethesda</st1:city></st1:place> neither, which probably isn't because nobody wants to take responsibility for <a href="http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=2010"><st1:placename st="on">Tenpenny</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Tower</st1:placetype></a> but rather because the script, well, isn't that good.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">But never mind that. Or do, because that's what we're here for. But I digress... <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> ...</o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Ah what the hell, just read <a href="http://www.insertcredit.com/features/fukubukuro/2006/06.html">this</a> on terrorism.<o:p></o:p> And <a href="http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2009/07/early-suda.html">this</a> on the auteur theory. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-3067114599966796448?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-88552299101655095172009-08-21T16:12:00.009+02:002009-08-21T16:22:06.924+02:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6sdCm43dI/AAAAAAAAABo/W3KiKooJyys/s1600-h/snake.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6sdCm43dI/AAAAAAAAABo/W3KiKooJyys/s400/snake.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372421020415745490" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:hyphenationzone>21</w:HyphenationZone> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Normal tabell"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Take this post for what it is. Whatever it is.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I just came back from a video game gathering where nerds sit down (and nowadays even stand up!) to play video games for a whole week. This was the summer gathering, which means people actually did leave the premises, even if only to get some air not drenched in the smell of sweat.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">First and foremost it differs from LAN-parties such as dreamhack, mostly in size. We also have way more sofas than chairs compared to LAN-parties, so it definitely makes for a more comfortable environment. We also have more drums and popnmusic-controllers than LAN-parties. Drummers may sit down, Bemani players may not. If they’re not playing Beatmania.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6rfpfniVI/AAAAAAAAABQ/bKnO5lTDdqA/s1600-h/sing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 390px; height: 292px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6rfpfniVI/AAAAAAAAABQ/bKnO5lTDdqA/s320/sing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372419965702342994" border="0" /></a><span style="" lang="EN-GB">"I´m not going to take your insolence sitting down!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><comeback>Your hemorrhoids are flaring up again, eh?"<br /></comeback></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><comeback><o:p></o:p></comeback></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">(I just had to) Anyway, with the swine flu rumours around, and dirty gamers around, I though I didn’t want to stick around THAT much. Also we had sun, but only on the outside, so as typical Swede with seasonal affective disorder I wanted to go to the beach as much as I could, but found myself having trouble finding others who did. People slept during the day, which is fucked up in my book, video gaming or not. Hm, I didn't think I'd make gamers the subject of my anthropological interest as soon as in my fourth post, but here we go. I guess I should keep my distance not to go <a href="http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofEnglish/imperial/key-concepts/Going-native.htm">native</a> as well, though.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6rz-aXXII/AAAAAAAAABY/fq_5EtP9aDs/s1600-h/ds.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 414px; height: 309px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6rz-aXXII/AAAAAAAAABY/fq_5EtP9aDs/s320/ds.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372420314914839682" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Gamers (and games) are easy targets though. And since I'm one of them I have legitimacy to hurt people’s feelings! Ah, the joys of being able to both be and not to be.<span style=""> </span>We even make fun of ourselves, do we not? Not only by saying that games aren’t art and that what we’re doing isn’t important and doesn’t contribute anything to society as a whole, but we do ourselves in even when gathered together—more so than putting gaffer tape on the ground and letting people know that wrestling is allowed within those boundaries. Oh, well, we played Mafia (that’s Werewolf to the Americans out there) and on the reveal after a night where the mafia kill a villager, the game leader says "… The chances of getting laid have just lowered". Yes, it was someone perceived as a girl who had been killed. And yes, my prejudice concerning video gamers is <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/07/ea-puts-sexual-bounty-on-the-heads-of-its-own-booth-babes.ars">justified</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6sNUVAxwI/AAAAAAAAABg/IcbomqAN-9A/s1600-h/maffia.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6sNUVAxwI/AAAAAAAAABg/IcbomqAN-9A/s400/maffia.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372420750294697730" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">There wasn’t much discussion concerning video games as a form of art or subject of critical analysis going around, which is usual, and casual, but sometimes irritating because I myself do not know how to approach the subject. I’ve started to accept that the internet is a great forum for these kinds of discussions, but it does strike me as rather odd that people who spend four, sex, or eight hours a day playing video games haven’t read any game theory, not <b style="">even</b> on an academic level!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Positivist knowledge though, is high in demand for the people attending the gathering, as; quizzes always are successful. Who knows most about Nintendo, or recognizes the most video game songs, and so forth. Different forms of competition, which makes sense since we’re gaming. The most fun discussing video games I had was probably fighting games, because we at least got into the discussion of the core mechanics and I got some questions answered, including why Street Fighter IV is barely in the top ten list of most popular arcade games in Japan right now (fast projectiles plus high priority long range attacks *cough* Sagat).<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I guess XBL achievements have something in common with positivist knowledge; it’s quantifiable. People at the convention I was at have a very special jargon with a lot of irony and insider jokes, so normally I wouldn’t be sure what to make of it when I ask someone for advice if I should be selling a game and they look at me and say “If you managed to get all the achievements”. WTF. Achievement whore!!!!!11</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6snIyJsjI/AAAAAAAAAB4/6bJdmakFcik/s1600-h/360.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6snIyJsjI/AAAAAAAAAB4/6bJdmakFcik/s400/360.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372421193872290354" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Sorry, it could have been hurtful of me to use ‘whore’ as a derogatory description of someone doing the video game moral equivalence of fast-food eating (Thanks, Jonthan Blow). The journey is the destination; thank you, Braid. Hm, I just realized most of you aren’t Swedish, so you wouldn’t know that the Swedish word “<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">mål</span>” means both “<span style="font-style: italic;">destination</span>” and “<span style="font-weight: bold;">meal</span>”. Darn.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Perhaps I should change the name of my blog after this post to have some credibility left? Oh, wait, I could ask people to recommend books concerned with critical analysis and making of video games instead. And then I could bring them to the next video game gathering!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6skT6gLoI/AAAAAAAAABw/rPErNCI4RXE/s1600-h/magic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/So6skT6gLoI/AAAAAAAAABw/rPErNCI4RXE/s400/magic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372421145320500866" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><br />PS: The association which made this gathering possible is <a href="http://www.terebigemu.se/">Terebi-gemu.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-8855229910165509517?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-47115376212215053252009-08-18T17:11:00.005+02:002009-08-18T22:47:50.101+02:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SorSod0P5QI/AAAAAAAAABI/YBflf-tfmWg/s1600-h/bioshock.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SorSod0P5QI/AAAAAAAAABI/YBflf-tfmWg/s320/bioshock.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371337098233111810" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />First, a dismissal, then a rebuttal, and then cake. Oops, wrong game.<br /><br />I was not convinced by the narrative of Bioshock that objectivism as a philosophy ultimately leads to destruction, or that the game by utilizing narrative means is a critique of objectivism as a political theory. <a href="http://clicknothing.typepad.com/click_nothing/2007/10/ludonarrative-d.html">Others</a> do not agree.<br /><br />I argue that to criticize objectivism through the lens of Bioshocks’ narrative is similar to using the case of Soviet Russia to criticize communism. To begin with we have to agree that Rapture as a society failed in more than one way; neither did it oblige to the rules set out by a minimalist government approach to the state since law had been replaced by chaos when the player arrived, nor was it a success from the perspective of single individuals—that is Andrew Ryan, or me, and probably not you. The significance of an ideology for practical (as in possible) purposes in the future should be measured by it’s own statements and imperatives laid out by its’ theoretical framework, and not by the prerequisites and milieu of those who “abide” to the ideology or plan/execute the orders of (or outside of) that society in which the ideology takes place—insofar as the ideological statements to begin with have their basis in reality and a proper understanding of <span style="font-style: italic;">La condition humaine</span>; otherwise the ideology is an utopia, something which I don't think Ayn Rand would want you to take objectivism for.<br /><br />Now, what I can gather from the narrative and what it (implicitly) tells us in Bioshock is that in Rapture there were breaches in the imperatives laid out by the ideology supposedly adhered to. For once, religion found its’ way to Rapture, as can be seen by the bibles spread across some levels, and—arguably but not decisively—because of some citizens’ (whom I perceive as supposedly mad) knack for biblical allegories in their threats and ravings. Also, was not Andrew Ryan a megalomaniac? This is a simple pathological statement, but I think my saying this makes the point clear enough; crazy people will make crazy societies, even if they set out to make things right, and especially if they do not understand the ideological framework with which they work to begin with.<br /><br />What I’m saying is that the games’ narrative didn’t give me conclusive evidence as to why rapture wasn’t an ideal society, and also didn’t hint about it strongly enough for me to perceive something along those lines. Instead, I started thinking that the city’s apparent failure could depend upon other factors, such as the individuals within it. Was Andrew Ryan a true objectivist? If ze was at the beginning, was ze towards the end of ze’s life? When Rapture started falling apart? The madness which infested Andrew’s haven could have unhinged once the breach of objectivist ideals were already underway—is objectivism to be put to blame for this?<br /><br />I will leave you with these questions unanswered and instead bring up some other points and finally give you some cake. Concerning rational self-interest in objectivism: helping others is not a vice per se for an objectivist, tis’ only so when helping someone whose ethics (and/or ability, which are closely connected to ethics) are inferior to your own, and by helping that someone you are making a half-man king and mankind a disservice. Helping the little sisters can definitely be motivated by rational self-interest in this context. Killing the little sisters, on the other hand, can be motivated by the ideology of objectivism only when physical danger to someone’s person is a threat. Do the little sisters seem dangerous to you?<br /><br />I argue that the ludonarrative dissonance when playing (the ludo part of the dissonance) as an objectivist and completing the game (the narrative part of the dissonance) is non-existing if you simply perceive rational self-interest from a different point of view, specifically, as in that interest being in harmony with helping others, if so only for ones own pleasure or for getting some answers. I as a player certainly wanted answers from Atlas, but since your avatar Jack had no narrative-infused motivations whatsoever, giving a narrative explanation for helping out Atlas was impossible, thus creating a sense of ludo-narrative dissonance.<br /><br />I will leave it at that and propose my own theory concerning rationality, free will and the scene where the murder of Andrew Ryan and the “death-disarm” takes place. Yes, I too “… see all this as a parable about gaming" as Iroquis Pliskin <a href="http://versusclucluland.blogspot.com/2008/07/game-designer-as-malignanat-demon.html">put it</a>, but also as a possible reading on objectivism. A quote from <a href="http://livingepic.blogspot.com/2009/07/andrew-ryan-shadow-puppet-master.html">Roger Travis at Living Epic:</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"By the shorthand “death-disarm” I mean to refer to the entire sequence of the cutscene in which your character kills Andrew Ryan and the gameplay sequence that follows, in which the game will not progress unless you obey Atlas and disarm Ryan’s auto-destruct sequence."</span><br /><br />I will borrow something from Pliskin once again, namely the <a href="http://versusclucluland.blogspot.com/2008/07/game-designer-as-malignanat-demon.html">malignant demon</a> which in Pliskins reading is the authour/designer. This time imagine the malignant demon having the original meaning set out by Descartes/Cartesius twisted to invoke society as looking glass. I do not want this invoked Cartesian society to be about oppression committed by the majority (as seen in classical individualist ideology), or in behaviourist analysis of mass-psychosis states (such as Nazi-Germany), but rather about social pressure as a part of <span style="font-style: italic;">La condition humaine</span> in every society. Simply; man is not man as we know man without society as we know society.<br /><br />One becomes a savage when growing up without other human beings. Is a feral child able to make rational choices? Are socialized humans able to do it? What is this elevated state which some humans seem to have, while others not, even if the biological prerequisites among people differ insignificantly? Does the act of simply being with other human beings who are more rational than oneself make someone more capable of rational thought? Is rationality a tool?<br /><br />Let’s say assume that Mowgli is capable of rational thought then, but how can anyone at all make decisions independently of opinions and attitudes of the surrounding people, the generalized others if you would, when they are part of the environment just as much as anything else? The only ones who are not affected by the feelings of other people are those <span style="font-style: italic;">diagnosed</span> as psychopaths, yet I dare say that even those diagnosed as psychopaths are <span style="font-style: italic;">influenced</span> by their peers. An internalized peer review comes with socialization is my understanding of all this.<br /><br />Now, finally, on objectivism: one of the three axioms which objectivist philosophy comes from is the one concerning epistemology, namely—reason. The first point I’ve already made to some extent, which would be how we can trust other people to inform us with rationally perceived information and logic, and how can we trust our own processing of that and different information; the problem with the moral choice concerning harvesting vs rescuing little sisters is that we simply do not know just how dangerous they are, if they are at all, and what we should do about it from a rational point of view. A may be A, but what the hell is A? Can we even recognize it? What is the meaning of the question asking the meaning of life?<br /><br />The second point I will make is concerning the corollary axiom of reason—the exercising of free will—, which presupposes reason in objectivist philosophy. If objectivist rationality did not exist, and these two are so interdependent upon each-other, would not the free will disappear? What happens in the scene you kindly murder Andrew Ryan? Exactly that;player agency disappears.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-4711537621221505325?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-21125696710269095712009-08-16T17:22:00.004+02:002009-08-16T18:24:35.100+02:00The emotions I felt when I first watched <a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-debut-dream-killer/54241">this</a> trailer were the emotions I so very often feel when waiting for a game, preparing for it, and then actually playing it.<br /><br />Having dreams sometimes suck.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-2112569671026909571?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-10200407008504969622009-08-13T10:43:00.007+02:002009-08-13T11:02:14.826+02:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SoPSmXNWKTI/AAAAAAAAAAw/5bC28wpwyK4/s1600-h/tales_of_monkey_island_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 126px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SoPSmXNWKTI/AAAAAAAAAAw/5bC28wpwyK4/s320/tales_of_monkey_island_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369366737262618930" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceName"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="metricconverter"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:hyphenationzone>21</w:HyphenationZone> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Normal tabell"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sp</span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-weight: bold;">oilers ahoy!<br /><br /><br /></span><o:p style="font-weight: bold;"></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Wouldn’t you say that Guybrushs’ attempts at being frightening, evil and piratey are misguided?<span style=""> </span>I mean, ze isn’t evil, is ze? Really, isn’t ze simply... a coward who wishes to overcome ze’s own insecurities? But being an inherently good-willed guy while being (or trying to be) a pirate isn’t easy, unless there are excuses for why you are perceived as evil (misinterpretation), the evil deeds done by the good guy are mistakes (motive), or, if the good guy basically is misguided (humour, forgiveness). There are also the internet-roaming kind of pirates who may be written off as evil (misinterpretation) by media but nonetheless seems harmless by most of the people, an issue that Telltale for me has failed to incorporate or allude to in their first revamp of Monkey Island—possibly due to the fact that they’ve dealt with similar issues already in Sam &amp; Max’s “Reality <st1:metricconverter productid="2.0”" st="on">2.0”</st1:metricconverter> and not because <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Monkey</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place> would be the wrong place for anachronistic or non-dietetic real-world humour; a U-Tube just seems like to much of a coincidence.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Are there reasons for Guybrush to commit illegal acts of spite, even? The main story is similar to many prototypic video game series such as Metroid, Castlevania or Zelda where the hero starts from scratch at each new adventure. Sometimes simply because the hero is a different character than in the previous game, but most of the time because it makes sense from a game-mechanic progress and development-perspective. In Tales of Monkey Island you have to prove yourself as a pirate once again and must do so by committing petty crimes. Your other motives are saving Elaine and, stopping LeChuck and doing something about that pesky cursed arm of yours. But let’s focus on the actions you as a player commit, and how evil they really are.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SoPTSpPMw_I/AAAAAAAAAA4/cp2NHPI0No4/s1600-h/rmvac7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SoPTSpPMw_I/AAAAAAAAAA4/cp2NHPI0No4/s320/rmvac7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369367498016474098" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">The three missions you have taken up on are stealing in order to start a fight, trick a lunatic to find a treasure, and throw a bomb to become Captain. How are these actions' evilness lessened by the narrative? Sure, the game rewards you for stealing, but it turns out the one Guybrush stole from didn’t mind Guybrush taking ze’s property. The bar-fight is caused by the cursed hand (misinterpretation) which has a will of its’ own and therefore has nothing to do with our hero (forgiveness/motive). The same character from whom Guybrush steals is the one you bomb away, but this person loved the challenge to begin with, taunted you while to tried to commit the atrocity and failed, and also congratulates you afterwards and becomes your first-mate, which lessens the impact of the perceived evil even less. When it comes to tricking Joaquin D’Oro—the person obsessed with dolls—well, ze is happy afterwards, and isn’t that all that matters?<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">There is also the Town Gazette, spreading all these rumours of you being frightening, and you actively contributing to this by tipping of the only journalist of the crimes you’ve committed. You do this because the journalist knows the locations of Deep Gut whom you must get a hold of. There are all these rumours circulating around Deep Gut, all of which turn out to be wrong. This gives reason to believe that also Guybrush perhaps isn’t evil even if ze is perceived that way—if somebody should have missed that. (I’m interested how the whole LeChuck-goes-human-and-good turns out; is the curse of LeChuck simply that, a curse? What are the implications of evil being seen that way, and what would happen if Elaine suddenly got the curse?)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SoPTvt24jEI/AAAAAAAAABA/4v9fILWHMFs/s1600-h/aaa.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 256px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ibvnsxPaHAA/SoPTvt24jEI/AAAAAAAAABA/4v9fILWHMFs/s320/aaa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369367997472869442" border="0" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Why should I give you the Map?!</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Is there more to Guybrush’s wanting to become a pirate? There doesn’t seem to be any ideology behind ze’s vigilante identity; an anarchistic laissez-fair ideology where pirates take over the ships of their rich, undeserving rulers and then roam the sea in order to achieve some kind of independence wouldn’t give enough incentive to do much else, except for when the governments demonize pirates as a species in order to be seen as enemies by the public and Guybrush took it on ze to change this. Guybrush aspirers to be a pirate because... I dunno, because we're all supposed to have been small boys growing up, wanting to become pirates? He's cute like that, Guybrush. A kid. Misguided. Just like we were. Not anything like Marquis DeSinge (whose name reminds me of someone special, especially considering Singes’ monkey has masochistic tendencies) is the real evil antagonist, as it turns out after a while. The obvious difference between the two make Guybrush so much less evil, even if both characters are going for some kind of dream; one wanting to become a pirate and the other advocating sacrifice in the name of science. On whose side is the law? Well, technically speaking the law is on vacation in Tales of Monkey Island, but one of the final puzzles is solved with the use of the carvings on the empty prison cells… which has to mean something! Is it justification, or just irony? (For a moment there I thought that it would be cool if that specific puzzle was the one that trapped DeSade, but on the other hand he got his own science-made weapon turned against him, which is neat also.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">Marquis DeSinge is a mad scientist, a man, yes: Tales of Monkey Island is a mans world with only 2/10 characters being female, including Elaine and Guybrush. And while we’re on the subject of representation, it’s interesting that there are so few coloured people in the game, and that LeChuck turns white when he becomes “good”. Will this whiteness or the simple good-will of LeChuck make ze a sympathetic character in the following episodes? Will we learn some kind of moral lesson through all of this? Will our lover Elaine become cursed and evil, LeElaine? Me, I'm hoping the second episode begins with an insult sword fight!<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-1020040700850496962?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7857033740312341889.post-43274638906572297982009-08-06T23:44:00.005+02:002009-08-07T00:02:18.252+02:00... And one day I discovered that I was suprisingly absent from the more and more interesting discussions concerning 'the games' taking place @theinternets. So I decided to flood comment sections of a wide variety of intelligent blogs and figured I might as well start a blog to give my new found hobby (which is the flooding part) some legitimacy. I also figured that this way I myself would get more comments for my blog--but alas, as evident as it is I still have to admit that this is a post-hoc explanation--since being legitimate is such an important thing for me to concern myself with.<br /><br />So here *I* am, and without going further into some rambling about intentional fallacies, 'if a tree falls in the forest' and my thoughts on having used a symbol for which I have no name (*) in the sentence above, I shall take my temporary leave and wish all of us the best of luck. The world of video games is an amazing one, chock-full of mysteries which I hope we continuously will try to unravel. Hopefully we get lost along the way and find some insights while we're at it.<br /><br />Read you around, internets!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7857033740312341889-4327463890657229798?l=mindinggames.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Ava Avane Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04564104575376090627noreply@blogger.com2